The New York edition of James Reid’s only wordless publication, The Life of Christ in Woodcuts, was issued with a black spine and with a white spine. The contents of the two versions are nearly identical.

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 the 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 on edition size or whether printed from the blocks (probably not).

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 the 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)
Mottled paper surface
Title page with date in Roman numerals.
Note that the title page for the white spine edition below
is the same, except it lacks the date in Roman numerals.
Dedication page opposite the copyright page.
Alyse is the name of Reid’s wife as well as their oldest daughter.
The White spine edition below appears to lack the dedication,
and instead it starts with the 1st chapter heading.

NY White spine

I have little 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. Additionally, the dedication page in the black-spine edition appears to have been replaced by the 1st-chapter heading.

Any information or images regarding a slip case would be appreciated.

Images of a cleaner copy would also be appreciated.

Front cover with gold stripe beside the cloth spine.
Back cover.
Lacking the MCMXXX date shown with the black spine
The white spine edition does not appear to have the dedication page
opposite the copyright page, as done for the black spine edition.

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