A DOCUMENTARY ACCOUNT of the BEGINNINGS of the LABORATORY PRESS, CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. By PORTER GARNETT.

Published by THE LABORATORY PRESS, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, 1927. FIRST and LIMITED EDITION. One of only 255 copies, so stated on the Colophon Page (the last page).

SIGNED, INSCRIBED and DATED by PORTER GARNETT on the front free endpaper to his long-time FRIEND and BOHEMIAN CLUB cohort, WiLLIAM H. SMITH, JR.:

"To / William H. Smith, Jr. / this souvenir of an old and valued friendship. / Porter Garnett / San Francisco / June 25, 1928."

Both William H. Smith, Jr. and Porter Garnett were active members of the Bohemian Club. William H. Smith, Jr. held various offices in the Club, including Secretary, wrote a Grove Play, directed Grove Plays (including one by Porter Garnett), and both were involved with the Bohemian Grove Hijinx encampment.

Hardcovers, parchment covered spine and paper covered boards, spine title label, 7.5x10 inches, Pagination: x + 131 pages + 46 unnumbered pages at the rear containing a descriptive and illustrated bibliography of the works of the Laboratory Press.

Illustrated with facsimiles of pages from the press, photographs, and five full page calligraphic initials in red.

The Laboratory Press was founded in 1923 as a part of Carnegie, set up to give students a chance to see what fine hand-printing and illustration involved. One of the more elusive American private press bibliographies.

VERY GOOD condition: Sunning / slight toning to spine, inner pages toned at the margins; otherwise tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. A solid, lightly used, very presentable copy.

About PORTER GARNETT (from Wikipedia):

******Porter Garnett was born in 1871 in San Francisco. He was an active member in San Francisco's literary scene and a MEMBER OF THE BOHEMIAN CLUB, writing and directing plays at Bohemian Grove. In 1896, he joined The Lark, founded the previous year by Gelett Burgess and Bruce Porter. In 1907 he became assistant curator of Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley.

IN 1922, GARNETT BECAME PROFESSOR OF GRAPHIC ARTS AT THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, teaching traditions, development and ideals of fine printing. There, HE FOUNDED THE LABORATORY PRESS, as the only program in the country FOR THE TEACHING OF FINE PRINTING until the press closed in 1935. The Press was one of the only dedicated to education in printing as a fine art. In 1932, he was awarded the AIGA Medal.

When Porter and his wife Edna retired, they established their home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Garnett died on March 21, 1951, in Calistoga, California. After his death, an archive of his papers was created in his name in the Bancroft Library.******

RARE, especially so SIGNED and INSCRIBED by the Author, Printer and Bohemian PORTER GARNETT to his friend, fellow BOHEMIAN CLUB member WILLIAM H. SMITH, JR.******