THE BOOK OF RUTH AND BOAZ ACCORDING TO THE KING JAMES VERSION OF THE HOLY BIBLE (BINDINGS - CHARLOTTE ULLMAN). VALENTI, ANGELO, Printer and Illustrator. BIBLE IN ENGLISH Bindings - Modern (1900-70),Book Arts and Fine Printing (1945-present),Illustrated Books - Color Pla

255 x 168 mm. (10 x 6 5/8"). [8] leaves. ATTRACTIVE EXHIBITION BINDING OF BURNT ORANGE MOROCCO BY CHARLOTTE M. ULLMAN (stamp-signed and dated 1953 on rear turn-in), covers with two vertical borders of short thick and thin horizontal rules, central panel with three elegantly curving stems of barley, smooth spine with vertical titling flanked by multiple blind horizontal rules, gilt star-patterned endpapers, top edge gilt. In the original dark blue linen clamshell box, backed with burnt orange morocco. With four initials illuminated in blue and gold, tailpiece printed in pink, blue, and gold, and title page illustration of Ruth in colors and gold, all by Valenti Angelo. An original pencil drawing of the cover design dated July 1953 laid into box. Front free endpaper with pasted-on paper labels of the National Religious Art Exhibition in Birmingham, Michigan. An immaculate copy. Designed, illustrated, and printed by Valenti Angelo, this edition of the Book of Ruth is offered here in a binding of powerful, yet carefully controlled, refinement by a major American binder. Best known for his illustrations for the Grabhorn Press, Newberry Award-winning artist Angelo (1897-1992) began printing from his own small press in the late 1940s. He produced more than 30 works over the next 25 years, many of them religious, reflecting the fact that Angelo was a devout Catholic all of his life. That faith is celebrated in this volume, with Medieval-inspired hand-illuminated initials in vibrant indigo and gold, and the serene woodcut of Ruth clasping her sheaf of grain with the brilliant gold moon and stars behind her. Our binder, Charlotte M. Ullman (d. 1982), was for many years the head binder at the Pierpoint Morgan Library. She trained with Jacques Nosco and with Kathryn and Gerhard Gerlach; was an active member of the Guild of Book Workers, which she joined in 1942; and won a Ford Foundation grant in 1963. In addition to the Morgan, she worked with the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Ecole Estienne, and the British Museum. Her bindings, which are rarely seen for sale, are tastefully designed and very skillfully executed: here, the motif of a sheaf of grain is drawn directly from the book's pages, providing a harmonious connection with the text as well as a pleasing appearance apart from it. No. 54 OF 150 COPIES SIGNED by the printer.