Mark Twain's Seventieth Birthday courtesy of Boice Lydell

Pictures and description courtesy of Roycroft Historian Boice Lydell

Mark Twain's 70th Birthday

A Souvenir of it's Celebration

by Burton Paul Batcheller, 1905

This book was published by Harper & Brothers publishers for Mark Twain's 70th birthday celebration. The printing run is unknown. Mark twain turned 70 on 30 November 1905. The book was bound by the Roycrofters and the one above was executed by Lorenz Schwartz. Note the exquisite use of leather inlays on this cover. Lorenz Schwartz and Harry Avery were masters of this form, much as Kinder and Grabau were masters of tooled bindings. The book above may be one of a kind. It is not known if the Roycroft bound any of the other volumes.

LORENZ SCHWARTZ --- This Danish binder worked at the bindery from about 1907 to 1915 and again, from 1928 to 1947. Schwartz learned his craft in Germany. He came to the United States in 1904 and worked for Otto Zahn in Memphis before joining the Roycroft. His books are signed with one of several variations of his monogram. His finest productions are Masterpieces comparable in quality to Louis Herman Kinder's work.

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