The Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount.
Flansham, Bognor Regis, Sussex: Pear Tree Press, 1930.
(27253)

Drawings and engravings by Gabriel Pippet – Typesetting by Cyril Edwards

In 1930 the Pear Tree Press embarked on its Black Letter Series which explored the design possibilities of the Gothic typeface while achieving the effect of combining text in different colors with occasional highlights in silver and gold. The four titles in the series are all devotional in nature. The limited edition of two hundred copies of The Sermon on the Mount included a remarkable variety of colors. A prospectus for the series announced that the Sermon would include thirty-eight copies printed in green and azure; eighteen in green and orange; eighteen in green, azure, and orange; eight in magenta, cerise, and orange; eighteen in azure, magenta, and cerise; thirty-eight in azure and cerise; six in azure and vermilion.

This copy is number 189. The letterpress text is printed in black with purple headings and page numbers, and it is further embellished with wood engraved initials printed in blue. Full-page wood engravings comprise the title page and frontispiece, printed in blue and black. Two small wood engravings of Jesus Christ each appear twice. Wood engravings adorn the decorative endpapers, printed in purple, as well as the cover.