Fridolf Johnson
Archive of process materials for bookplates, c. 1963
NY
2748
A suite of material which summarizes, in a multimedia and primary manner, the work of notable bookplate designer, Fridolf Johnson. Johnson's particular innovation, represented here, was his realization of bookplates...
A suite of material which summarizes, in a multimedia and primary manner, the work of notable bookplate designer, Fridolf Johnson. Johnson's particular innovation, represented here, was his realization of bookplates for historic figures and entire collections. Included are: 1) a pen-and-ink drawing of Holbein the Younger's portrait of Thomas More, with overlay showing color; 2) a proof copy mounted on board (plus negative) of a bookplate for Morton G. Neumann, the significant Picasso collector, with a design much less contemporary than Neumann's collecting interest would suggest; 3) a proof copy of the bookplate for Yale University's Salome collection, signed by Johnson and with four preliminary sketches; 4) a printed copy plus negative proof of a bookplate design for Johann Fischart, a 16th-century German satirist; and 5) several TLS's exchanged between Johnson and Walter Klinefelter, who together collaborated on The Bookplate of Johann Fischart, the typescript for which is also present. An intriguing collection of work by a savvy designer, able to comment upon contemporary collecting and early modern literary culture simultaneously. Materials show minimal wear, else near fine.


