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George Macy (1900-1956) founded the Limited Editions Club in 1929 to publish fine
illustrated books, mostly classics, in limited numbers for member-subscribers. Most
titles
were limited to 1500 copies, were designed and illustrated by leading figures in the
graphic
arts, and were printed on fine paper. New introductions were written for many titles.
From
the base established by the Limited Editions Club, Macy broadened his publishing activities
with The Heritage Press, a series of unlimited, less-expensively produced reprints
of titles
previously issued by the Limited Editions Club. After Macy's death in 1956, his wife,
Helen
Macy, continued the work of the firm until 1968, when their son, Jonathan Macy, assumed
leadership. In 1970, the firms were sold to the Boise-Cascade Company, and Ziff-Davis
Publishing acquired the Limited Editions Club inventory. Cardavon Press later acquired
both
the companies and the inventory. Cardavon sold off the Heritage Press and its distributer,
Heritage Club, to the Easton Press, and in 1979, sold the Limited Editions Club to
Sidney
Shiff. Schiff died March 18, 2010, and ownership passed to his wife, Jeanne Shiff. |
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The bulk of Macy’s Limited Editions Club and The Heritage Press records consist of
correspondence with authors, illustrators, designers, binders, and printing firms
related to
the numerous titles published between 1929 and 1970, such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, Don Quixote, Frankenstein, Herodotus, Jayne Eyre, Kim, The Last of the Mohicans, Moby-Dick, Paradise Lost, numerous works by
Shakespeare, War and Peace, and many more. Included among the
correspondents are notable figures such as James Baldwin, Thomas Hart Benton, Karen
Blixen,
Jonathan Cape, Miguel Covarrubias, J. Frank Dobie, Theodore Dreiser, M. F. K. Fisher,
Ford
Maddox Ford, Eric Gill, John Hersey, Dard Hunter, James Joyce, Alfred A. Knopf, Sinclair
Lewis, Henri Matisse, W. Somerset Maugham, V. S. Pritchett, Kenneth Rexroth, Norman
Rockwell, Gilbert Seldes, George Bernard Shaw, Gilbert Stuart, Lionel Trilling, Hugh
Walpole, and E. B. White. In addition to correspondence, a small number of original
prints,
drawings, and photographs are present and noted in the container list with an asterisk
(*)
and description. |