Haggedah for Passover – Collotype reproduction by Trianon Press

A very good copy of The Haggedah for Passover will be offered for sale on Auction #41 running from 5-12th March 2015. 

This first edition of the Haggadah for Passover, copied and illustrated by Ben Shahn consists of 292 copies each bearing the artist’s signature and cypher on the frontispiece.

Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 – March 14, 1969), an accomplished lithographer and painter, was a Lithuanian-born American artist. After settling with his family in New York, he was first trained as a lithographer. Shahn's early experiences with lithography and graphic design are apparent in his later prints and paintings which often included the combination of text and image.

Trianon Press was founded by Arnold Fawcus in the late 1940’s in Paris and is known for its extraordinary facsimile productions of William Blake's illuminated works, and its wide range of fine press volumes.

The reproduction in facsimile of the artist’s original was done in Paris under his supervision. The illuminated pages were reproduced by collotype and hand-stencil in the workshop of MM. Hourdebaigt and Crampe under the direction of Trianon Press (France).

Collotype was also used to reproduce the illustrations of ‘An Only Kid’. The frontispiece and title-page were drawn by the artist and printed in original lithography from stones by the Imprimerie Mourlot, with additional colours applied by hand through stencils. 

The letterpress was set in England: the Hebrew by Stephen Austin & Sons Ltd., Hertford; the English in Monotype Bembo by Spottiswooke, Ballantyne & Co. Ltd., London and Colchester. The printing of the letterpress pages and the assembly of the book were done in Paris by Imprimerie La Ruche. 

The book was designed by the Artist with Arnold Fawcus, and produced and published in France by the Trianon Press, Château de Boissia, Clairvaux, Jura, and 125 avenue du Maine, Paris.

This is copy no. S of 16 copies numbered K to Z printed on Arches Grand Vélin pure rag paper. It includes an extra set of the colour plates on Auvergne hand-made paper; a set of plates left uncoloured, on Arches verge paper; three original guide-sheets and stencils; and two proof states of the lithograph frontispiece.

Unsewn as issued in lettered parchment wrappers with a glassine cover. The extra suites of colour plates, uncoloured plates and guide-sheets and stencils and the proofs of the frontispiece are contained in brown paper folios and housed in an oatmeal cloth portfolio with ties. Together in a gilt-lettered parchment-covered fall-down-back box with silver-gilt clasps. 

Trianon Press, Paris & London, 1966

Estimate: $4000/5000

What is a Collotype?

The process of making and printing of collotype plates came into use in the 1870’s as a specialist medium for high quality book illustrations and fine art reproductions. It allowed high-quality reproductions of continous-tone images from a glass plate. After the 1920’s only very few printing houses continued with this technology for commercial purposes. The making and printing of collotype plates required highly skilled staff and was very expensive. 

The world’s only collotype museum is based in Dresden, Germany – view Youtube video below (German language only) about the fascinating story behind the museum and the technology.