The House in Mallorca (1950), by Ernest Ingold, is the last book ever published by Paul Elder & Company, and the only one published after Paul Elder Sr’s death in 1948. It describes the purchase of Junipero Serra’s birthplace, in the village of Petra on the Spanish island of Mallorca, by the Rotary Club of San Francisco in 1931. The Club subsequently deeded the property to the City of San Francisco in 1932 “to erect an imperishable bridge of friendship between Spain and California.” The book was published in a limited edition of 950 copies, and is decorated with many fine block engravings by Mallette Dean.
One of Paul Elder’s most collectible titles, Palace of Fine Arts and Lagoon (1915) has often been described as Bernard Maybeck’s only book. It is a slim volume though, coming in at just 24 pages. In it Maybeck describes his approach to designing the Palace of Fine Arts, perhaps his most recognizable building and the only surviving structure from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The text is a revised version of a speech that Maybeck gave to the Commonwealth Club of California. The introduction by Frank Morton Todd, official historian of the Exposition, is as florid and grandiose as Maybeck’s speech is thoughtful and subdued.
In addition to the orange wraps shown below, this title was also issued in a deluxe version with gilt-embossed dark-green leather over boards.
Cover, "Palace of Fine Arts and Lagoon"Frontispiece and title page, "Palace of Fine Arts and Lagoon". (Not shown: tissue-guard with printed poem)"Palace of Fine Arts and Lagoon", page 10
I recently found online a digitized version of The Graphics Arts and Crafts Year Book 1908 (Republican Publishing Company, Hamilton Ohio; Joseph Meadon, editor), which has several examples of John Henry Nash’s typographical work at the Tomoye Press. See pages 122 through 134.
In 1902, May E. Southworth wrote a cookbook for Elder & Shepard called One Hundred & One Sandwiches. It was sold very well, and Elder asked Southworth to write more. In the 1904 Catalog From a Western Publisher (catalog C20), he writes:
The many who have experienced the gustatory joys of 101 Sandwiches will give a hearty reception to four additional volumes, affording them that multiple of the famous 101 Epicurean Thrills
The four new cookbooks were Salads, Chafing-Dish Recipes, Beverages, and Candies. The five cookbooks, including Sandwiches, were reprinted with a Tomoye Press title page and whimsical cover art by Spencer Wright. They were issued in two bindings: paper wraps, and the “Kitichen edition” of canvas over boards. Elder named the series “101 Epicurean Thrills,” and by 1908 there were eleven titles in the series:
