o NY publication; black and white spines

The New York publication of James Reid’s only wordless publication, The Life of Christ in Woodcuts, was published in two versions: one with a black cloth spine; one with a white cloth spine but the contents appear to be the same. I have no information as to why or if the publication dates were different. The black spine version appears to be more prevalent.

• Publisher: Farrar & Rinehart
• Place of Publication: On Murray Hill, New York
• Date of Publication: 1930
• images printed recto
• no information as to edition size or if printed from the blocks (I suspect not).
• for some example images see images – some woodcuts

NY Black spine

• hard cover in a slip case, no dust jacket
• cloth spine with paper covered boards. The paper has a mottled appearance which may look like a repeating decorative motif – closer examination suggests it is just mottled – see image below
• All edges cut
• Top edge coloured gray (not silver as in the case of the UK publication)
• paper label in silver/red/black pasted to front cover of the slip case
• Dimensions: slightly smaller than the UK publication
  • Slip case: 23.8cm H x 16.1cm W x 2.7cm thick (9 3/8″H x 6 3/8″W x 1 1/16″thick)
  • Book: 23.5cm H x 16.0cm W x 2.1cm thick (9 3/16″H x 6 5/16″W x 13/16″thick)

NY White spine

I have no information about this variant – any information would be appreciated.

In addition to the white spine, this has a thin gold coloured strip running along the side of the cloth spine – is the top edge gilt?The title page lacks the Roman numeral date, MCMXXX, used in the black spine edition. As well the dedication page in the black spine edition appears to have been replaced with the 1st chapter heading.

Any information/images as to a slip case would be appreciated.

Images of a cleaner copy would also be appreciated.