The purpose of this bibliography is two-fold. First, it serves as a catalog of all known titles published by John Vassos during the period between 1927 and 1946, and of all know variants of those bindings. My interest in Vassos' work began with a copy of Ultimo, and over the past 8 years I have not only discovered his remaining titles, but also found that there are numerous, if subtle, variations in their bindings. The second purpose is to provide as much information about the production aspects of the books as well as providing examples of the reviews published when the books were first issued. I have not attempted to describe his artwork as that has been done successfully elsewhere.
John Vassos' (1898 -1985) illustrated works were completed during the heyday of the Art Deco movement, the 1920's through mid-forties. He was a Greek-American illustrator, artist, and industrial designer who is today most known for his work with RCA. His personal papers comprise about 24 linear feet of archival materials, 7.5 of them held in Special Collections at the Syracuse University Library with the balance unprocessed in the Archives of American Art (AoAA) at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Syracuse also holds the paper of Vassos' primary publisher, E.P. Dutton, which are comprised of 89 linear feet.
The "John Vassos Papers" at Syracuse University contain materials from 1928 to 1981 and consist of some of his original artwork and many of his professional papers. The collection is arranged into four categories (Correspondence-Subject File, Artwork, Writings, Memorabilia) which focus on Vassos' creative efforts. Most of the materials relevant to this bibliography originate from the Memorabilia and Artwork files, with many of the original gouache drawings for his illustrated books being found here. Among them Phobia, Kubla Khan, and Humanities. The Memorabilia file contained clippings of reviews for some of his books. 1
The papers of E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1852 to 1969, comprise 21 series: Edward P. Dutton, Memorabilia, Macrae Family, John Macrae, Publication Listings, General Files, Authors, Scrapbooks, Legal Files, Stocks, Financial, Production Files, Publicity, Correspondence, Children's Editor's Files, Photographs, News Clippings, Letter Books, Manufacturing Books, Importation Books, and Miscellaneous. The physical arrangement of the above mentioned series varies greatly. In most instances it is either by author or title, with the folders being labeled. In some cases, however, more than one title or author appear in a folder. In those cases only the first and last are indicated. In the case of John Vassos and his materials, all production records are missing. Box 55 contained a great deal of information, but only on a small handful of his titles, no traces were found of the bulk of Vassos' titles. Whether or not these files were returned to Vassos and can be, perhaps, found in the AoAA in Washington or are lost can not be determined without going through all the unprocessed materials to be found there.
A separate "item-level" finding aid has been prepared, as an appendix, from the materials held in both the John Vassos Papers and the E.P. Dutton Papers at Syracuse University. This finding aid lists all relevant materials held in both these collections individually.
Of the John Vassos Papers held at the Archives of American Art little is known beyond the bibliographic record. Judith Throm, curator at the AoAA, reveals that the collection has not yet been fully processed. What the record does show in the collection is as follows: autobiography (xeroxed typescript); biographical data; correspondence; writings; files; drawings; photographs and slides of Vassos, of others, and of his work; printed material; tape recording of a talk; and a videotape of Vassos at Hofstra University (ca.1978); Silvermine Guild Artists material; tape cassette of a Silvermine meeting, and of a testimonial dinner to Vassos; autobiographical remarks, and comments on design as told to Robert Hose (1970s).
The receipt of the collection was documented in an article in the Archives of American Art Journal, Volume 29, Numbers 3 & 4, 1989. While primarily highlighting his career as an industrial designer the article mentions that "as an artist Vassos is principally represented in the papers by drafts and sketches for three notable illustrated books of the 1930's, Contempo, Humanities, and Phobia."
Vassos and his contemporaries Rockwell Kent and Lynd Ward, among others are now receiving attention and were the focus of a recent exhibition at the University of Toledo concurrently publishing a catalog on the subject. Apparently there was also another earlier exhibition in the 60's or 70's which featured Art Deco "artists books" including some by Vassos. Supposedly a catalog was issued. This yet remains to be located.
For the collectors of this genre, issues of edition and state are important especially when it comes down to identifying first editions. First Editions: A Guide to Identification details what the policies of various publishers were in regards to identification.
Collational formula followed is from Gaskell and used as follows: parts of a sequence, or a sequence which is missing, but which can be inferred, are supplied in italics without brackets. For Example:
i-ii iii-vi, 1, 2-45 46 47-50 51-58 = 32 leaves
Where pagination or foliation of unnumbered pages cannot be inferred, however, the total of each unnumbered group of such pages is inserted in italics in brackets. For Example:
[2] i-ii iii-xiv, [4] 1-16 17 18-27 29 31-34 [24] 35-108 109-118 = 80 leaves 3
Over the past eight years I have received a great deal of assistance and encouragement in my quest for Vassos materials from book dealers, librarians, and others. Those who deserve special mention are Mark Weimer, Curator of Special Collections at Syracuse University, Mark Dimunation, Rare Books Curator at Cornell University, the interlibrary loan department at Cornell, David Pankow, Curator, Cary Library at Rochester Institute of Technology, MacLaren North, Richard Smith, Dick Rykken, and many others. This paper was "completed" with encouragement by Professor Antje Lemke.
1. Information taken from Finding Aid to the John Vassos Papers, Syracuse University Library, Department of Special Collections, 1991.
2. Zempel, Edward N. and Verkler, Linda A. First Editions: A Guide to Identification. Peoria, IL: The Spoon River Press, 1989.
3. Gaskell, Philip. A New Introuction to Bibliography. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 1995. p. 332.