Oak Knoll Books and Press
Oak Knoll is a bookseller and publisher based in New Castle, Delaware. Oak Knoll includes Oak Knoll Books which specializes in the sale of rare and antiquarian books and Oak Knoll Press which is a publisher and distributor of in-print titles. Both divisions specialize in "books about books" on topics such as printing history, bibliography, and book arts.[1][2] Oak Knoll has also been the sponsor of the book arts festival Oak Knoll Fest.
About
Oak Knoll Books was founded in 1976 in Newark, Delaware by Robert D. (Bob) Fleck, Jr. (1947-2016)[3]. He founded Oak Knoll Press in 1978.[4][5] Both parts of Oak Knoll specialize in books "about book collecting, book selling, bibliography, libraries, publishing, private press printing, fine printing, bookbinding, book design, book illustration, calligraphy, graphic arts, marbling, papermaking, printing, typography and type specimens plus books about the history of these fields."[6]
Oak Knoll was named after the home of book collector and writer A. Edward Newton[7]. Newton's bookplate became the inspiration for many of the early Oak Knoll Books catalogs.
Oak Knoll has had a variety of locations, it first opened in Newark, DE in 1976 and later it moved to New Castle, DE. In New Castle it has been located at 212 Delaware Street and 414 Delaware street. In August 1998, it moved to the New Castle Opera House at 310 Delaware Street where it operates today.
After the passing of Robert D. Fleck, Jr. in 2006, his son Rob Fleck, III, became President and owner.[8]
Oak Knoll is a member of several professional organizations, including the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America,[1] the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers,[2] and the Association of American Publishers.[9][10]
Oak Knoll Books
Currently, Oak Knoll Books has an inventory of about 29,000 titles.[6] It publishes regular catalogs devoted to antiquarian books.
Directors of the Antiquarian department have included Andrew Armacost (1994-2004) and Rob Fleck, III (2008-).
Catalogs have historically been devoted to books about books and bibliography although some catalogs have been devoted to special topics or collections. Some notable antiquarian book catalogs have included:
- Catalog 8, A. Edward Newton, A Collection of his Works.
- Catalogs 10, 11, 14, 17, 19, and 22, Alida Roochvarg Collection of Books about Books
- Catalog 69, History of Bookbinding
- Catalog 86, A. Edward Newton, A Collection of his Works
- Catalog 122, Paper History and Technique, with an introduction by Paul S. Koda
- Catalogs 177, 179 and 181, History & Technique of Printing from the collection of Norman Blaustein
- Catalog 196, Biblio-fiction
- Catalog 200, Bibliography and Reference Books
- Catalog 208, The Americana Reference Library of Robert G. Hayman
- Catalog 214, The History of the Book in Great Britain
- Catalog 219, William Morris and his Kelmscott Press
- Catalogs 223 and 225 The Typographic Book (223 was issued in partnership with Heritage Book Shop)
- Catalog 229, Contemporary Private Press & Artists' Books 1980-2000 (issued in 2001 with Priscilla Juvelis, Inc., cover designed by Michael Russem)
- Catalog 246, Bookbinding, History & Technique largely from the Collections of Phiroze Randeria & Alfred Brazier
- Catalogs 254, 257, 258, From the Reference Library of H.P. Kraus
- Catalog 255 Fine Printing & Private Press in 20th Century North America
- Catalogs 266, 267, 268, Works from Questor Rare Books
Oak Knoll Press
Oak Knoll Press publishes approximately 15 titles per year and co-publishes with partners such as the Library of Congress, the Bodleian Library, Winterthur, the American Antiquarian Society, and the Private Libraries Association.[6][11] Oak Knoll also distributes publications issued by organizations such as the Grolier Club, the Center for Book Arts,[12] and the CODEX Foundation.[13]
Publishing directors of Oak Knoll Press have included Paul Wakeman (1988-1996), John von Hoelle (1996-2006), Mark Parker Miller (started 2006) and later Matthew Young. Articles about books published and distributed by Oak Knoll have been featured in publications such as Smithsonian.com[14] and The Atlantic.[15]
Below are examples of books published by Oak Knoll Press:
- ABC for Book Collectors by John Carter (author)[16]
- A reference guide on book collecting[17]
- Books as History: The Importance of Books Beyond Their Text by David Pearson (librarian) [18]
- The Encyclopedia of the Book by Geoffrey Ashall Glaister[19]
- A New Introduction to Bibliography by Philip Gaskell[20]
- Principles of Bibliographical Description by Fredson Bowers[23]
- The Typographic Desk Reference by Theo Rosendorf [24]
- "A reference guide of typographic terms and classification with definitions of form and usage for Latin based writing systems"[25]
Further reading
References
- ^ a b "ABAA: Oak Knoll Books – Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America". abaa.org. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ a b "Oak Knoll Books - Book dealer - ILAB-LILA – International League of Antiquarian Booksellers". ilab.org. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ Homes, Gebhart Funeral. "Obituary for Robert D. Fleck | Gebhart Funeral Homes, Claymont, DE". Obituary for Robert D. Fleck. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
- ^ "Oak Knoll Books". oakknoll.com. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "Oak Knoll Books and Oak Knoll Publishing - American Printing History Association". printinghistory.org. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ a b c "Oak Knoll Press". oakknoll.com. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "A. Edward Newton collection, 1808-1966". dla.library.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
- ^ www.bibliopolis.com. "Staff Directory". Oak Knoll. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
- ^ "Member List | AAP – Association of American Publishers". publishers.org. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "Our Associations". oakknoll.com. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "Books on Books from Oak Knoll". publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "Shop | Center for Book Arts". centerforbookarts.org. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "Links - About - Codex Foundation". codexfoundation.org. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "The Mad Challenge of Translating "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian". smithsonianmag.com. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "The Lost Graphic Designs of a Short-Lived Democracy - The Atlantic". theatlantic.com. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ Carter, J.; Barker, N. (2004). ABC for book collectors. Oak Knoll Press. ISBN 9780712348225. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "John Carter, ABC for Book Collectors - Articles about rare books, antiquarian books, manuscripts, autographs, first editions, illustrated books,... - ILAB-LILA". ilab.org. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ Pearson, D. (2008). Books as History: The Importance of Books Beyond Their Texts. British Library. ISBN 9780712349239. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ Glaister, G.A. (1996). Encyclopedia of the Book. Oak Knoll Press. ISBN 9781884718144. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ Gaskell, P. (1972). A new introduction to bibliography. Clarendon Press. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "Obituary: Philip Gaskell | Education | The Guardian". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "A NEW INTRODUCTION TO BIBLIOGRAPHY | Philip Gaskell". oakknoll.com. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ Bowers, F. (1986). Principles of Bibliographical Description. St. Paul's Bibliographies. ISBN 9781884718007. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ Rosendorf, T. (2009). The typographic desk reference: TDR. Oak Knoll Books. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
- ^ "The Typographic Desk Reference (TDR)". typedeskref.com. Retrieved 2017-01-08.