American Culture and the Marketplace: R.R. Donnelley's Four American Books Campaign 1926-1930

Washington: Library of Congress, 1992. Softcover. New. Rare in new condition. Claire Badaracco describes the history of the R.R. Donnelley Four American Books Campaign in the late 1920s. The campaign hoped to promote perceptions of American excellence in the printing of fine books, and it commissioned illustrators to select volumes to illustrate. The four books chosen were Moby Dick, Two Years Before the Mast, Walden, and The Tales of Edgar Allen Poe. The Bibliographical Society of America review writes, "Badaracco, who has had access to the Donnelley records and correspondence files, has traced the history of the campaign in admirable detail, providing a concise history of the venture and giving, in the process, useful thumbnail sketches of the persons who conceived and executed the books." Published by the Library of Congress Center for the Book, whose purpose is to promote books and literature. Includes illustrations from the published volumes as well as historical images.