Lot 245
McCance, William (1894-1970)
Collection of books from the library of William McCance, Scottish artist and controller of the Gregynog Press
Estimate: £400 - £600
Auction: 19 September 2024 from 10:00 BST
Description
including: Gaudier Brzeska, a Memoir by Ezra Pound, 1916 (first edition, 4to, original green cloth, with William McCance's large linocut bookplate, designed and cut by himself, 12.5 x 9cm); The Fleuron No. 2, 1926 (4to, original quarter cloth, ownership inscription of William McCance to front free endpaper); Vincent Steer, Printing Design and Layout, c.1930 (4to, original cloth, ownership inscription ‘W McCance, Typography Dept’ to front free endpaper, annotations identifying typefaces to half-title and title-page, 2 leaves of manuscript notes laid in); and 27 others, general literature including paperbacks and reprints, either with McCance's ownership inscriptions or gift inscriptions to McCance (often naming him as ‘Mac’), 4 of which inscribed to McCance and his wife Agnes Miller Parker, one work (Robert Gibbings, Sweet Thames Run Softly, 1940) inscribed ‘To Willie, from Agnes, Xmas 1940’, together with one work (John Donne, Love Poems, Zodiac Books, 1950) inscribed ‘To Dearest Agnes, with much love Edna, Xmas 1952’ (31)
Provenance
Mrs Margaret McCance, second wife of William McCance.
Footnote
William McCance married Agnes Miller Parker in 1918. In 1930 he was appointed controller of the Gregynog Press, in Powys, Wales, remaining in the position for three years. In the 1940s and '50s he served as lecturer in typography and book production at the University of Reading, living during that period at Pheasant's Hill, Hambleden, Buckinghamshire.
