Additionally, Elder published two books for the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego, which opened just a few weeks after the PPIE and stayed open a year longer:
12. The Architecture and Gardens of the San Diego Exposition
271. The San Diego Garden Fair
Colophon of “The Standard Upheld,” by Morgan Shepard, 1902. Copy #1 of 500.
In publishing, a colophon is a brief description of a book’s production or publication details. The Latin word colophon comes from the Greek κολοφων meaning “summit,” or “finishing.” The term originally applied to inscriptions appended to the end of ancient Near East texts written on clay tablets. The colophon would contain such facts as the scribe, the owner, the literary contents and occasionally the reason for writing. For example, the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible contains colophons at the end of every book, noting, among other things, how many verses the book contains.
Unusual hand-drawn colophon from “The House That Jack Built,” by Robert Wilson Hyde, 1904
Most Paul Elder publications after 1902 contain a colophon. By about 1906, the usual formula was: title, author, printer, month and date of publication. Most colophons were written out in full sentences, stylistically matching the tone and content of the book. From a research standpoint, the colophons are useful in pinning down when Elder’s printers (Nash, Swart, Funke, and Orozco) joined, then later left, the Tomoye Press. Colophons will also sometimes mention artists not otherwise mentioned on the title page.
As the purpose of the colophons was to impress the adults, Elder’s children’s books do not have them. Colophons are also typically missing from books which have significant end-matter, such as indexes or appendices.
Elder’s style, which mimicked that of other fine press books of the time, was to put the copyright information on the title page verso, and the colophon on its own page following the last page of text. In modern American books, the colophon has been subsumed into the copyright details, typically placed on the title page verso. European books often place the copyright/colophon at the end of the book.
Updated 2026-02-06
The earliest Elder colophon I have found so far, “Wayfarers in Italy,” by Katherine Hooker. The colophon is dated 1901, but the book’s title page reads 1902. Paul Elder has signed with the red “E”, Morgan Shepard with the red “S”Colophon from “Yosemite Legends,” by Bertha Smith, 1904Colophon from “A Book of Hospitalities and Record of Guests,” by Arthur Guiterman, 1910Colophon from “Charity,” verses selected by Beulah Warner, 1911Colophon from “San Francisco, As It Was, As It Is, and How To See It,” by Helen Throop Purdy, 1912Colophon from “Eric’s Book of Beasts,” by David Starr Jordan, 1912
Pick up a book that was sold at Paul Elder’s bookshop, and open to the inside back cover. Quite often, in the lower-left corner, you will find—for want of a better term—a “postage stamp.” The size of an actual postage stamp and moistened in the same manner, they were affixed to all books sold in the shop, not just Elder’s own publications. The practice seems to have been far from universal, though, because it’s common to find Elders without stamps in the back. The stamps were probably affixed by the salesman while wrapping up the book.
The earliest known stamp (A) dates from 1899, before Elder and Shepard began to use the tomoye. At this time, Elder was still calling himself “D. P. Elder.” The significance to Elder & Shepard of the seahorse-and-arrow design is unknown, but an interesting variant appears on the title page of Charles Ferguson’s Religion of Democracy, checklist #258. A seahorse appears over a vertical arrow, but with a village scene in the background and the motto “Maturandum” printed above. Literally, maturandum is Latin neuter singular gerundive of maturo and means for “that which is to be matured,” or “something requiring haste or maturing,” but is often coloquially rendered as “carefully” or “cautiously.”
Seahorse-and-arrow design on the title page of The Religion of Democracy
The image may ultimately derive from Emblematum liber, a book of emblems published in Augsburg, Germany in 1531. Here a mollusc is shown on a flying arrow with the text:
Maturare iubent propere et cunctarier omnes Ne nimium praeceps neu mora longa nimis Hoc tibi declaret connexum echneide telum Haec tarda est, volitant spicula missa manu.
…which translates as: “Everyone tells us to deal with things quickly, but they also tell us to hold back – not to be impetuous, nor yet to wait too long. A missile linked with a sucking-fish can demonstrate this for you: the fish is slow, but arrows fly fast when they leave the shooter’s hand.”
Page C6 verso of Emblematum liber, with a seashell on a flying arrow
In any case, the seahorse-on-arrow era did not last very long. Elder and Shepard switched to the tomoye design in February 1900, principally on the title pages of their books and Impressions magazine. The earliest known example of the first tomoye stamp (B) is from 1901.
Stamp C dates from 1902, when Elder began calling himself “Paul Elder.” This stamp was discovered in 2023 and is known from just this one example.
The San Francisco stamp had two variants, which I’m calling D1 and D2. I have seen only one example of D1 and assume therefore that it is the earlier of the two. The Santa Barbara branch bookstore (E) also had its own stamp. It’s possible, though unlikely, that the New York store had had a stamp, as one has never been found.
Stamp F, featuring a tomoye surrounded by delicate tracery, had the longest lifespan; it has been seen as early as 1911 and as late as 1946.
Page C7 recto of Emblematum liber, with the accompanying text to the emblem at top
By the 1950s, much had changed. Paul Sr. died in 1948, and Paul Jr. moved the bookstore to the corner of Sutter & Stockton. The company now used self-adhesive stickers (G) with a decidedly modern look to match the decidedly modern store.
As of tonight, the entire Checklist of the Publications of Paul Elder & Company is now online! If you own one of the printed copies of the Checklist 2nd edition, I will continue to maintain the errata page so that you can cross-reference any changes.
The gallery at Paul Elder’s Post St store (1921-1948). (Collection of Jean Rodgers)
Can a bookstore also be an art gallery? If the bookstore was Paul Elder & Company, the answer was a resounding “yes.”
Elder had learned about the book business while working for William Doxey at his bookstore in the Palace Hotel on Market Street. But while photos of Doxey’s shop show nothing but books, Elder’s stores included a healthy dose of objets d’art: paintings, prints, pottery, metalwork. This was the influence of Morgan Shepard, Elder’s partner from 1898 until 1903. Shepard was both an author and an artist, and he decorated the original 238 Post store (1898-1903).
Art objects were for sale from the beginning, but it wasn’t until 1909 that Elder had a lecture hall/exhibition space within the bookstore. Both the 239 Grant store (1909-1921) and the 239 Post store (1921-1948) had gallery rooms. The photo at right shows the Post St gallery adorned with Asian prints.
How many exhibitions did Elder host? Very many. Years ago I started making a list of all the artists’ shows at the Paul Elder Gallery, but I gave up when the count grew past fifty. It seems that the gallery was never empty for long.
