1930 ❧ A crowning achievement of the press. [GRABHORN PRESS]. WHITMAN, WALT. 1819-1892. Leaves of Grass. Comprising all the poems written by Walt Whitman following the arrangement of the edition of 1891-'2. New York: Random House, 1930. Folio (368 x 251 mm). Title-page, colophon, and final leaf printed in red and black. Thirty-seven woodcuts by Valenti Angelo. Printed in handset Goudy New Style type on Unbleached Arnold handmade paper. An 8 page proof, signed by Valenti Angelo is laid in. Original red niger morocco over spine with raised bands lettered in black, wood veneer endpapers. Signed by the illustrator Valenti Angelo in pencil on the colophon page. Spine very slightly darkened, housed in a slipcase. LIMITED EDITION, an unnumbered copy from an edition of 400, SIGNED BY THE ARTIST VALENTI ANGELO. Widely considered the crowning typographical masterpiece of Edwin and Robert Grabhorn's long career, the 1930 Leaves of Grass stands as one of the finest and most monumental achievements of American private press printing in the 20th century. The production was a massive, exhausting undertaking that required more than a year of intense labor. The text was set and re-set multiple times before the printers achieved their intended aesthetic harmony. While initially planned without illustrations, the brothers ultimately opted to drop intended vermilion initials in favor of Valenti Angelo's raw, evocative woodcuts carved directly from soft basswood. The taxing nature of the project famously led the Grabhorn brothers to jokingly suggest that the colophon read: '400 copies printed and the press destroyed.' Grabhorn Bibliography 138; Huntington Library, Great Books in Great Editions, p. 65. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing