CONTEMPO, John & Ruth Vassos, 1929

Limited edition:

This edition was limited to 166 copies which were signed by both John and Ruth Vassos. Copy being described is number 120.

Title Page:

CONTEMPO / THIS AMERICAN TEMPO / CREATIONS BY JOHN VASSOS / TEXT BY RUTH VASSOS / NEW YORK / E.P. DUTTON & COMPANY, INC. / 1929

310 X 230mm. Bound in full silver cloth; square back; silver paper endleaves; wove paper for text; title stamped on spine in black; type set as one letter / line; no page numbering; typography by Robert S. Josephy. Slipcase covered in dark blue cloth with decor and title stamped in silver. Collection of PDV.

i edition statement ii blank iii half title iv frontispiece v title page vi copyright notice vii dedication (to America) viii blank ix-x foreword xi-xcviii = 49 leaves

Index of illustrations:

1^ST Regular Edition, Variant 1

Title page: Identical to limited edition.

310 x 230mm. Bound in full dark blue cloth; plain endleaves; title and decor stamped in silver on cover (identical design as slipcase for limited edition); type on spine set as one letter / line; no page numbering; typography by Robert S. Josephy. Collection of PDV, SUL, CUL.

i half title ii frontispiece iii title page iv copyright notice v dedication (to America) vi blank vii-viii foreword ix-xcvi = 48 leaves

Index of illustrations:

Order of illustrations identical to limited edition, except appearing on pages:

ii, xi, xvi, xix, xxiii, xxvii, xxxi, xxxv, xxxix, xliii, xlvii, li, lv, lix, lxiii, lxvii, lxxi, lxxv, lxxix, lxxxiii, lxxxvii, xci, xcv

1^ST Regular Edition, Variant 2

Title page: identical to limited edition.

310 x 230mm. Bound in full light blue cloth; plain endleaves; title and decor stamped in black on cover (identical design as slipcase for limited edition); type on spine set as one letter / line; no page numbering; typography by Robert S. Josephy. Collection PDV, MN.

Collation and position of illustrations identical to 1^st variant.

1^ST Regular Edition, Variant 3

Title page: Identical to limited edition.

290 x 215mm. Bound in full dark blue cloth; plain endleaves; title and decor stamped in black on cover (identical design as slipcase for limited edition); type on spine set as one letter / line; no page numbering; typography by Robert S. Josephy. Collection PDV.

Collation and position of illustrations identical to 1^st variant.

Dust-jacket:

printed on cream stock with typography and design in black and shades of gray.

Front:

CONTEMPO / VASSOS' / SUPERB ILLUSTRATIONS / HAVE CAUGHT THE / PULSE BEAT OF AMERICA / FROM SUBWAYS TO PSYCHOLOGY

Spine:

CONTEMPO VASSOS / Dutton [text runs vertically down spine, "Dutton" horizontal]

Rear:

Type centered and justified:
CONTEMPO / by / RUTH VASSOS / illustrated by / JOHN VASSOS / A brilliant and satirical comment upon the / dynamic forces in American civilization that have / made it unique and dangerous to itself. In short sketches / vibrating with a sharp staccato tempo, symbolic of an / American riveting machine. Mr. Vassos makes living things / of electricity, advertising, skyscrapers, the subway prohibi- / tion, the radio, psychologia, air conquest, sports, the / movies, the tabloids, modern art, etc. / [ornament] / Books by OSCAR WILDE / Illustrated by JOHN VASSOS / THE HARLOT'S HOUSE AND OTHER POEMS / SALOME / THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL

"Blurbs:"

Front: This dust-jacket is very much an advertisement for the book. The text reads, "Dynamic America, with its rushing forces unique and threatening to itself...emblazoned in symbolic drawings interpreting modernism through modernistic rhythm.

It is a brilliant and satirical comment, and the accompanying prose sketches by Ruth Vassos vibrate with the sharp staccato tempo of a riveting machine. Mr. Vassos' pictures are magnificent symbolic extensions of the text, reaching into a strange world of logic and fantasy."

Rear: Brief biographic sketch of Vassos.

Both editions of Contempo were released in October of 1929.⁽¹⁾ The 1929 "Catalogue of Publications" listed the limited edition (166 copies) of this title at $25 and the regular edition at $5. By 1936 the price on the limited edition had been dropped to $10 and the regular edition dropped to $3.75. The limited edition ceased to be listed by 1941 and the "regular" was short-listed in 1942. Internal documents from E.P. Dutton dated June 2, 1933 show that between October 29, 1929 and April 30, 1930, 40 copies of the limited edition were sold, with Vassos receiving $100 total at $2.50 each. That same document, however, also shows 56 copies as having been sold in the first 6 months with one other between May and October of 1931. Of the regular edition, 2,041 copies were sold between October 29, 1929 and April 30, 1933, 1,525 of these having been sold during the first 6 months after publication. Vassos received $1,004.26 at $.50 each royalty After June 5, 1931 royalties dropped to $.375 per copy. No advances were paid. ⁽²⁾ A letter dated October 14, 1932 from Elliott Macrae to John Vassos mentions that at least 2000 extra copies of Contempo were still on hand and suggested that these be sold for the price of $1.00 in quantities of 500 or more. Vassos accepted.⁽³⁾

The Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art report holding the manuscript of this title among others in their "collection file." As the collection is unprocessed and quite large, 19 linear feet, it is difficult to ascertain with certainty. ⁽⁴⁾

The John Vassos Papers at Syracuse University unfortunately contained only two items related to Contempo, Vassos' first original work for which his wife Ruth wrote the texts in what must have been a very collaborative venture. Both are publicity releases. The first titled Weekly Book News (n/d) contains reviews for a number of Vassos' titles, among them Salome, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, and The Harlot's House, signifying a date after October 29^th, 1929.

In "Vassos Saves Modern Art from Dementia Praecox", Art Young (author of "On My Way" and Trees at Night) begins by writing that, "apart from the merit of Mr. Vassos' pictures which are conceived in the modern tempo of machinery, austere architecture and curves of wild velocity, the important thing is his point of view. The artist cannot accept the world as he finds it." Continuing, Young says that "trying to live on a higher plane when everything is against you is revealed to me, at least, by the pictures and text in Contempo. Vassos gives us poetic glimpses of our environment." Young concludes by stating that "Vassos is representative of a modern tendency toward sensible symbolism. It is not the jumbling chaos, bad color, and terrible drawing that often passes for modern art. The Vassos illustrations help to point the way towards saving modern art from dementia praecox, or something worse. Ruth Vassos writes a simple accompaiment (sic) to the pictures – brief summaries of such themes as the ‘The Suburbs,' ‘The Movies,' ‘Sports' with a penetrating observation of the living scene. Much should be said for the reproduction and printing of this fine volume."

Robertus Love, Literary Editor of the St. Louis Globe - Democrat writes of Contempo "John and Ruth Vassos attempt to put into pictures and words the restless activity so evident today in America – not to be resisted, because in it is the well-spring of creation. What would old Arthur Shopenhauer, who hated noise and its hurtful effect upon serenity, say if he could see the Vassos creation called "Traffic" a drawing that almost shrieks with raucous uproars such as the German philosopher never knew even in nightmares." ⁽⁵⁾

Vassos himself commented on this aspect of "Traffic" in a separate E.P. Dutton publicity release by writing that "no individual should own below the second floor of any building. The state should own all basements and ground floors and use these for the storage of automobiles. Thus parking difficulties would be lessened... Pedestrians might walk above the traffic where there is more light and air if all the buildings were recessed at the same level." Vassos does have another suggestion though, "Skyscrapers are not the only reason for the traffic problem. There's also the installment plan. It puts too many cars on the road. Make it necessary for every driver to have paid for his car in full and there'll be no more crowding." ⁽⁶⁾

He concludes by writing that "surely after Contempo attains its circulation, the underlying and dormant forces struggling to free themselves from the Victorian lethargy of the pre-war period, as Mr. Vassos visualizes an active aspect of the America he discovered, will be shouting themselves hoarse from all the housetops, or, Whitmaniacally, flinging their barbaric yawps of victory over the roofs of the world."

Coley Taylor writes in his review of Vassos' work entitled A Pictorial Judgement of Our Time: John Vassos Criticizes Us in Modern Art, that Contempo is a startling change from Vassos' earlier work for the Wilde books. "Vassos has been held to the work of illustration: the mood and temper of his work was necessarily defined by the mood and temper of the author's work before him: within those limits he has free range. But in his own book, one would expect to see a difference, not in quality of course, but in temperament. It is more starling than I should have imagined, for in Contempo Vassos reveals himself as a humorist and satirist. These drawings for Contempo are among the most beautiful he has done: some of them are his best work, in my opinion: the book adds considerably not only to Vassos' reputation as an artist and individual, but to the body of achievement in modern design." ⁽⁷⁾

Back to Contents

1. E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., Accepted Titles for Future Publications at September 30, 1929. E.P. Dutton Papers, Box 10, Publications Schedules.

2. E.P. Dutton Papers, Box 55, John and Ruth Vassos, Correspondence. John Vassos: Royalty Earned and Deductions to Apr. 30, 1933. June 2, 1933.

3. E.P. Dutton Papers, Box 55, John and Ruth Vassos, Correspondence.

4. Letter from Judith Throm to PV, February 1, 1995.

5. E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. Weekly Book News. E.P. Dutton Papers, Box 55, Vassos, John.

6. Publicity release for Contempo, n/d. E.P. Dutton Papers, Box 55, Vassos, John.

7. E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. Weekly Book News. E.P. Dutton Papers, Box 55, Vassos, John.