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.

Some differences between the Black spine and White spine editions

• The black spine version is much more prevalent in sales listings,
• The Black spine has a silver strip running along side of the cloth spine while the White spine has a gold strip,
• The title page for the Black spine shows a date (1930) in Roman numerals, MCMXXX, which is lacking in the White spine edition,
• The dedication to Reid’s wife and daughter in the Black spine edition has been omitted in the White spine edition.

Details

• Publisher: Farrar & Rinehart
• Place of Publication: On Murray Hill, New York
• Date of Publication: 1930 (at least for the Black spine edition)
• 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.