ASHENDENE PRESS. DANTE. HEWITT, Graily. ~ La Divina Commedia. Lo Inferno; Lo Purgatorio; Lo Paradiso.
3 volumes. Lo Inferno is one of 135 copies; the other volumes each one of 150 copies. Woodcuts throughout adapted by Catterson Smith, Charles Keates and W.H. Hooper from an early Venetian edition of Dante. Numerous initials and paragraphs drawn by Graily Hewitt in gold, red, blue and green. Printed in red and black in the new Subaico type on special handmade paper from Batchelor. 8vo., all in the original full white vellum bindings with green silk ties. Generally a very fresh and crisp set with a slight pinkish tinge to the bottom edges of Lo Paradiso and some spotting to the edges.
Lo Inferno was the first book to be printed in Hornby's newly commissioned Subiaco type, designed by the great Emery Walker with Sydney Cockerell having examined numerous incunabula in the British Museum with Hornby's help. The type they used to model it on was the first type of Sweynheym & Pannartz with which they had printed three books between 1465 and 1497 at Subaico before they went to Rome. Interestingly Morris had once experimented with this type but had never taken it as far as having punches cut from his designs. E.P. Prince cut these ones for Hornby and the Press's dominant typeface was born.
On receipt of his new type, Hornby was determined to tackle more serious projects. In 1902 he wrote: "I therefore bought a larger Press and embarked upon the printing of La Commedia di Dante in three small octavo volumes". This reflected his passion for the Italian language and literature as much as his delight in his new type.
Lo Inferno was the last book to be printed by Hornby with the help of his family. After this a pressman, Faulkner, printed all the Ashendenes until 1931 (his last piece of work being the "disastrous" Daphnis and Chloe on vellum).
These books really mark the coming of age of the Ashendene Press with the new type and the use of Hewitt's handsome hand-drawn initials.
Each volume has the distinctive bookplate of the great British collector J.R. Abbey on the front pastedown and with his customary acquisition date and shelfmark written in ink at the back of each volume.
Erratum slip tipped into Lo Purgatorio. Inferno has a contemporary presentation inscription in Italian dated 1905 from Gaston Foa, an Italian who lived in Kensington, London, near the Ashendene Press, to Adele Meyer (1855-1930) who was a socialite, social reformer and suffragist in London married to the wealthy banker Carl Meyer.