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WASHINGTON IRVING — NOTES AND JOURNAL OF TRAVEL IN EUROPE, 1804–1805Grolier Club, 1921Complete in Three VolumesPrinted by D. B. Updike at the Merrymount PressSix Aquatints by Rudolph RuzickaFormer Henry E. Huntington Library Copy
IRVING, Washington. Notes and Journal of Travel in Europe, 1804–1805. With an introduction by William P. Trent; title pages and illustrations in aquatint designed and engraved by Rudolph Ruzicka. New York: The Grolier Club, 1921.
First edition. Three volumes, complete. Original navy-blue cloth, gilt-lettered spines with gilt urn devices. Printed for the Grolier Club by D. B. Updike at the Merrymount Press, Boston.
A handsome American fine-press edition of Washington Irving’s youthful European travel journals, printed on rag paper and illustrated with six aquatints by Rudolph Ruzicka—an aquatint title page and an additional aquatint illustration in each volume.
The colophon records an edition of 257 sets on rag paper, including seven presentation and copyright copies, plus only three sets on Japanese vellum. This is a regular rag-paper set.
Irving made this first European journey in 1804–1805, long before The Sketch Book, “Rip Van Winkle,” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” made him one of the first American authors to achieve international renown. His journals record travel through England, France, the Low Countries, Switzerland, and Italy, with observations on cities, theaters, art, architecture, inns, landscapes, customs, and the practical difficulties of travel during the Napoleonic era.
The edition is especially notable as a collaboration among the Grolier Club, Updike’s Merrymount Press, scholar William P. Trent, and Ruzicka—one of the leading American engravers and book designers of the twentieth century.
Former Huntington Library Copy
Each volume bears a Henry E. Huntington Library duplicate-release stamp on the rear pastedown. The set retains its original Huntington internal catalog card, which will accompany the books.
The card documents the set’s institutional history and records that the Huntington held two copies of the edition. While duplicate-library provenance is different from private ownership provenance, the surviving original catalog card gives this set unusually tangible and well-documented association with one of America’s great rare-book libraries.
Selected for A Century for a Century
This edition was selected for the Grolier Club’s landmark exhibition and catalogue, A Century for a Century: Fine Printed Books from 1900 to 1999, as its representative fine-printed book for 1921.
The selection recognizes the edition as an outstanding example of American bookmaking of its year: a collaboration among the Grolier Club, D. B. Updike’s Merrymount Press, Rudolph Ruzicka, and editor William P. Trent.
Its inclusion gives the set importance beyond Washington Irving collecting, placing it among the Grolier Club’s chosen landmarks of twentieth-century fine printing.
Condition
Very Good to Near Fine overall.
The original navy cloth bindings remain sound, square, and attractive, with light shelf wear only. Gilt lettering and urn devices remain clear and bright.
Interiors are notably clean and fresh. The rag paper is crisp; all six Ruzicka aquatints are present and strong. Huntington duplicate-release stamps are present as described. Original Huntington catalog card preserved separately.
Please review all photographs carefully, as they show the exact set offered and form part of the condition description.
A complete, handsome Grolier Club set combining Washington Irving, Updike’s Merrymount Press printing, Ruzicka aquatints, and documented Huntington Library history.
