Besterman (Theodore), 1904-1976

(42 cm), xiii, 119 pp., [12] leaves of plates (5 folding), [124] p. of plates. Publisher’s grey cloth with gilt spine lettering. - A collector of ferocious energy, Besterman assembled this collection in less than ten years, primarily through the London booksellers E.P. Goldschmidt & Co. Ltd. The collection was bequeathed to the Taylorian Library, Oxford; the bequest, however, was contested by Besterman’s widow, and in 1983-1984 the collection was sold to E.P. Goldschmidt & Co., in order to satisfy her successful claim for a greater provision. Some books featured in Goldschmidt’s Catalogue 165; the majority were sold directly to the research library of the Getty Museum in Malibu. David A. Stoker, “Theodore Besterman (1904-76)” in Twentieth-century British book-collectors and bibliographers, edited by William Baker and Kenneth Womack (Detroit, Washington, DC & London 1999), pp.20-29. ¶ Copy 191 of 300 numbered copies on hand-made paper. Superior copy in new condition.