Book Arts: Selections from the Grabhorn Collection

Robert Grabhorn's personal bookplate

The Grabhorn Collection is one of the main anchors of the Book Arts & Special Collections Center. Robert Grabhorn's private collection on the history of printing was acquired and integrated into the library's existing collection of printing treasures in 1965. Due to the strength and comprehensiveness of these new materials in printing history, the collection was officially named The Robert Grabhorn Collection on the History of Printing & the Development of the Book. The scope of the collection covers five centuries, from the cradle of printing with moveable type to the digital age, with the primary focus on letterpress printing. Here researchers and students can find historical surveys of printing history, studies of individual printers and printing technology, printers' manuals, type specimens, press bibliographies, bookbinding, papermaking, and examples of printing from the fifteenth century to modern fine printers of the twenty-first century.

As a complement to the contemporary works presented by the College Book Art Association's exhibition BiblioTech, we have selected a sampling of private press books published in the San Francisco Bay Area from the 1920s through the 1960s. This array of books is a demonstration of San Francisco's long and illustrious tradition in the art and craft of letterpress printing. The exhibition continues through March 11, 2012. For a peek at what's on view, visit our Flickr page.

The Grabhorn Collection is just one of the library's treasures and it's open to everyone!