Ultima and After

ALTIMA AND AFTER: A HUNDRED YEARS OF PRINTING AND PUBLISHING 1839 -1939 by George Frederic Lees was published in 1939 by Marcel Servant of Imprimerie Lecram-Servant (Vendome Press). Although Ultima and After is not a book that was published by the Obelisk Press it is none-the-less an important book to collectors of the Obelisk Press books. It was published in 1939 by Marcel Servant at his Imprimerie Lecram-Servant (Vendome Press) as part of the celebration and exhibition commemorating the centennial (1839 - 1939) of his printing works located at 338 rue St. Honore in Paris. The book traces the history of the printing works from its founder Damase Jouaust Sr. to the then present owner and master printer Marcel Servant. Among the publishers who owned and/or used the printing works throughout the years were Damase Jouaust (father and son), Herbert Clarke, Sylvia Beach (Shakespeare & Company), Jack Kahane (Obelisk Press), and Marcel Servant (Vendome Press). Only five hundred copies of the book were printed and original copies are extremely rare and have a value of three to five thousand dollars. This facsimile was created by painstakingly photographing each page of the original 1939 publication. The target copy was rebound with the original stiff paper wrappers bound in and therefore the original spine graphics are not visible. Thus there are no spine graphics on this facsimile. This is the only known issue point difference between the original and this facsimile.* This is the 2nd book in the handsack press's Obelisk Press facsimile series. *The front end paper of some books designates the book as a facsimile. There is also a required ISBN label on the back cover of each book.