Set of 7 Hand Printed Greeting Cards

[Berkeley]: Lawton and Alfred Kennedy, 1972. 7 bifolium cards of various sizes and stocks 6 of which are illustrated. 5 have some text printed on the inside ranging from the printer's credit to short poems or blurbs. Generally near fine or better.

Beautiful set New Year's and Season's Greetings cards from the Bay Area fine printer brothers, Lawton and Alfred Kennedy.  Lawton worked for John Henry Nash, the Grabhorns and others before establishing his own press in 1952.  This 1953 New Year's card on glossy stock likely represents one of the earliest efforts from that time.  Two other cards from Lawton are dated 1956 and 1969 and the other two are undated.  The two larger, colored cards are quite stunning, one containing a  woodcut Astronomer Scanning the Moon with a Quadrant, by anonymous Master DS, Basel, CA 1508, and the other an ocean scene with color scheme by Paul Quentin Foster accompanied by an interior quote from Moby Dick.   

The two cards from the no-less-skilled younger brother of Lawton, Alfred, are dated 1970 and 1971.  Both contain floral woodcuts by Alfred himself, both nicely colored.  All in all, a superb collection of San Francisco ephemeral printing by two important figures from the Northern California fine printing scene.  .