Description
A cul-de-lampe, more commonly referred to as a “tailpiece”, is an engraving or design placed as an ornament at the end of a chapter or at the bottom of a page. The term comes from the conical bottom of ancient lamps, which the tailpiece often resembled.
In 1968, Gehenna Press—the fine bindings publisher founded and run by artist Leonard Baskin—published Culs de Lampe, a booklet of unbound leaves of Nideggen and Fabriano blue and white handmade papers on which culs de lampe from Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century books were skillfully printed by Gehenna’s pressman, Harold McGrath.
Only 250 sets were printed.
