Novum Psalterium PII XII. An Unfinished Folio Edition by Brother Antoninus, O.P. Foreword by Robert O. Schad. A Note on the Psalter by Brother Antoninus. xxix [incl. 2 front blanks], [2], 41-52, [2] pp. 15¾x10¼, red buckram, spine lettered in gilt, slipcase. No. 8 of 20 copies, the 12 pages of the text printed on a handpress by William Everson [as Brother Antoninus], the preliminary pages and colophon printed by Saul & Lillian Marks at the Plantin Press.
Signed by Everson at the end of the preliminary text. The so-called "Baby Psalter," created from sheets left over from Everson's famed incomplete psalter. The psalter is Everson's acknowledged masterpiece as a printer, regarded by many as the finest book printed in America in the twentieth century, and the finest rendering of the Psalms ever printed. Both the 72-page "complete" editions and the 12-page "Baby Psalters" are of the greatest rarity, very seldom becoming available for sale. Bookseller Peter Howard, proprietor of Serendipity Books in Berkeley, California, in his Catalogue Eleven, describes the scenario under the heading of "A Noble Book": "Brother Antoninus projected a six year program to complete a hand-printed edition of the Psalter (`...it is the typographical opportunity of the age: for the first time in nearly two millenium, the Psalter has appeared in a new official text.') But because of costs, his own religious development, and affairs at his priory, Antoninus was forced to give up after printing 72 pp. (less one signature). He originally contracted with a Los Angeles book dealer [Dawson's] to sell the work, and to this end he sent exactly 48 complete sets of sheets there. Thereafter Antoninus lost all control over the fate of his masterpiece; he was, in fact, in his own words - `shafted.' Mrs. Estelle Doheny, a wealthy and eccentric benefactress of the arts, of Catholic faith, purchased the whole edition (contrary to Antoninus' hopes), had it bound with the Marks' printing of the preliminaries, and proceeded to distribute it to institutions. Moreover, Antoninus' introductory essay was edited against his wishes. The few individual sheets he had sent to Los Angeles in case originals were damaged were assembled in folios of 12 sheets each and later sold. This bit of commerce Antoninus fails to remember having agreed to or profited by."