These sets and individual books often show up on Ebay and online booksellers and they are quite inexpensive - sometimes under $20 per volume. Many of these portraits (there are 24) are the same ones that appear on currency. All the volumes have frontispieces with BEP vignettes of different landmark buildings in Washington, DC, and each president is represented with a BEP portrait, from Washington to McKinley. Each volume features material from two or three presidents, depending on how prolific they were. The set is called "The Messages and Papers of the Presidents" and there are 10 volumes.
There is a series of thick books that are a trove of BEP engravings, but no one talks much about them. I recommend contacting the sellers in advance of purchasing any of the books to find out the condition of the books and if the prints, stamps, and dust jacket are included and complete.
The books range in price from $30 to $115, plus shipping and taxes. I know some collectors have done this over the years, so less than the originally-printed edition of 1200 copies exist intact.Īt the time of this posting, there are 4 copies of the book available for sale from sellers on the Abe Books website. The prints can easily be removed from the book with reasonable care, although I do not recommend doing so. It provides the ability to obtain high-quality intaglio prints at economical prices.
The book is extremely well printed and a worthwhile acquisition for collectors of intaglio prints. The intaglio prints were created from original dies by the Canadian Bank Note Company and the British American Bank Note Company at around the time the book was printed. There are also many sepia pictures printed within the book. In this case, "tipped in" means lightly glued along the top edge rather than having the corners inserted into cuts on the book pages. The book contains 11 intaglio prints "tipped in," 4 color lithographs, also "tipped in," and 13 stamp singles or blocks in mounts.
It is 8-7/8" H × 12¼" W with 112 pages and was issued in a limited edition of 1200 copies. The book was produced in 1974 to commemorate the opening of the Canadian National Postal Museum on September 27, 1974, in Ottawa, Canada. Thanks to a very thick layer of the ink identifiable by touch it represents one of the most important security features in protecting the security printed materials.įor its production costs and overall financial expenses, namely linked with the preparations of the printing forms, the intaglio printing technology process is used in production of banknotes, government documents, and printed matters with high demands on security and protection against forgery or counterfeiting.Acting on a recommendation from GregAlex, I acquired a copy of the book, The National Postal Museum, published by the Canada Post Office. Intaglio printmaking, sometimes also called line engraving, is used in reproductions of engravings and print elements comprising very fine lines. After the printing areas (incisions or grooves) are filled up with very thick ink, very high pressures and temperatures are applied in transferring the ink onto the printed material, usually paper. SPWS is also able to render printing services utilising artisan printmaking techniques of etching and engraving (copper or steel prints) which can be included in the intaglio family. The printing plates carry a relief form whilst the printed elements are incised by this matrix into the material under the level of non-printing elements – a process exactly the opposite to the one used in letterpress (relief) printing. Intaglio is a printmaking technique based on the principle of printing from incised lines or sunken areas.