John Fass and George Jones

1932: John is Invited to Dinner with the Mayor of London:

 

Above:  John's invitation to dinner with the mayor of the City of London

George Jones was one of the most respected British printers of his era..  He operated the  Press of George W. Jones at The Sign of the Dolphin, in London, where he produced books for the Nonesuch Press and other top-shelf publishers.

John first met George Jones in 1929, during John's eleven-week tour of Britian and the continent. John met some of Europe's leading fine-press printers and typographers during that visit, including George Jones, Stanley Morison, and Oliver Simon.  In Germany, John met Dr. Willy Wiegand of the Bremer Presse, Dr. Rudolf Wolf at the Stempel foundry, and the Klingspor brothers.

After John returned to the states, he regularly received invitations and correspondence from his colleagues across the Atlantic. In 1932 George Jones invited John to dinner to meet the mayor of the City of London, even though John was in New York at the time.

 

1930: John has Chicken under Glass with George Jones

(With an Invitation Printed on William Morris' Mould-Made Paper):

 

Above:  John Fass' invitation to dinner with George Jones, printed on William Morris' paper

In the 1930s John Fass and George Jones both designed and printed books for The Limited Editions Club.  The books were published by George Macy of New York City. In 1931 Jones printed Charles Dickens' The Chimes for the Limited Editions Club, with illustrations by Arthur Rackham. And three years later George Jones printed The Canterbury Tales for this club. Macy knew that a premiere British printer could best represent the premiere British texts, printed in London.

Meanwhile, John was designing and printing other titles for Macy's Limited Editions Club, including Udine by By F. De La Motte Fouqué (1930), The Golden Ass by Apuleius (1932), Typee by Herman Melville (1935), and The Ballad of Reading Gaolby Oscar Wilde (1937).  John Fass and George Jones were riding the same George Macy train.

 

 More Fine Dining for London Master Printers:

 

 Above: John's 1930 program for a dinner of the London Master Printers
 

John Fass' collection of printed ephemera includes two 1930s programs for dinners of the London Master Printers. These printed programs were mini-masterworks of British printing.

Although John was busy in New York at the time, he received the 1930 and 1932 programs for his collection.  He knew the London printers were masters of their craft.