For a research project I am seeking actual pieces of hand engraved social stationery, no photos. If you have some to lend or give, kindly contact me directly for mailing particulars. She is nscstationer@earthlink.net. Please email me with the particulars, include your name, phone number(s), complete description of the piece or pieces you would like to submit, the story of to whom and from whom the piece came, your relationship (if any) and any interesting bits that would make for a nice story.
If your piece is chosen, we will need a legal release to digitize and publish your submission.
What we are looking for must be hand engraved and of American origin, including but not limited to:
- stationery
- cards
- notes
- calling cards
- at home cards
- announcements
- acknowledgment cards
The sole criterion is engraving: this is raised on the front with a bruise or indentation on the back, which is how to tell real engraving.
As quoted from Vogue's Need it Now, by Stephanie LaCava and edited by Virginia Tupker, "There’s a special sort of “sample sale” starting online, one unlike all others. Stationer Nancy Sharon Collins is about to launch a site that allows you to choose from her storied collection of bespoke, hand-engraved note cards. Let’s explain: Collins is also an archivist, her specialty being the research of type and print history, meaning she’s an expert on the best stationery. Part of her work is to keep track of the houses that have sadly gone out of business—recall the beloved Mrs. John L. Strong—which means she comes across hundreds of vintage steel engraving dies. Naturally, out of curiosity and duty, she creates small editions to see the prints created with the newly acquired designs. “It occurred to me that rather than hoarding them, I could offer the public these charming little proofs.” For example, some of Collins’s favorite designs are from a shuttered New York City engraver that had its offices on West Twenty-eighth Street. “My favorite is the log, probably something used at a timber or lumber company; unexpected, charming, and kind of cartoony.” Though not as easy to come by, not to be forgotten is Collins’s one-of-a-kind work. She let us in on a special secret: She was once commissioned to hand-engrave an Ellsworth Kelly artwork from a personal, private collection. . . . Who knows what we’ll find in the samples?"
