Mosher Press

Thomas Bird Mosher established the Mosher Press in Portland, Maine, in 1891, and continued printing until his death in 1923. After Mosher's death, the Press was run by his secretary, Flora Lamb. Mosher Press books take their inspiration from the restrained elegance of the Daniel Press, preferring simplicity of design to the more exuberant aesthetic of contemporary presses such as Kelmscott and Vale. By keeping the price of his books comparatively low and his print runs comparatively high, Mosher ensured that many little-known and out-of-print works were made available to an American audience, even if this often meant printing them without the author's knowledge or permission.

Special Collections has the following items printed at or published by the Mosher Press:

  • Barber, Margaret Fairless. The Roadmender. Portland: 1912. PR6003.A65 R6 1912
  • Bottonley, Gordon. The Riding to Lithend: A Play in One Act. Portland: 1910. PR6003.O67 R55 1910
  • Bottomley, Gordon. A Vision of Giorgione: Three Variations on Venetian Themes. Portland: 1910. PR6003.O67 V5 1910
  • Brown, John. Marjorie Fleming. Portland: 1903. CT828.F5 B7 1903
  • Browning, Robert. Italy, My Italy: IV Lyrics. Portland: 1910. PR4222 .I8 1910
  • Burton, Richard Francis. The Kasîdah. Portland: 1905. PR4349.B52 K3 1905
  • Burton, Richard Francis. The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû el-Yezdî. Portland: 1908. PR4349.B52 K3 1908
  • Chase, George Colby. Twice Told Tales. Portland: 1923. PS1292.C4 T8 1923
  • Fort, Adèle Brooks. Splendor in the Night: Recording a Glimpse of Reality. Portland: 1934. BV5095.F6 A4 1934A
  • Gautier, Théophile. La Morte Amoureuse. Portland: 1903. PQ2258 .M613
  • Gissing, George. Books and the Quiet Life; Being Some Pages from the Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft. Portland: 1914. PR4716 .P7 1921
  • Hazlitt, William. Liber Amoris, or, The New Pygmalion. Portland: 1908. PR4772 .L5 1908
  • Hewlett, Maurice. A Masque of Dead Florentines. Portland: 1911. PR4787 .M3 1911
  • Hewlett, Maurice. Quattrocentisteria: How Sandro Botticelli Saw Simonetta in the Spring. Portland: 1904. PR4787 .Q3 1904
  • Hewlett, Maurice. Quattrocentisteria: How Sandro Botticelli Saw Simonetta in the Spring. Portland: 1908. PR4787 .Q3 1908
  • Ingersoll, Robert Green. Toward Humanity. Portland: 1908. PS2045 .A1 1908
  • Johnson, Lionel. Twenty-One Poems. Portland: 1908. PR4826 .J5 1908
  • Jones, Thomas S., Jr. Jeanne d’Arc. Portland: 1929. PS3519.O5 J4
  • Jones, Thomas S., Jr. Leonardo da Vinci, and Other Sonnets. Portland: 1930. PS3519.O5 L4 1930
  • Jones, Thomas S., Jr. Six Sonnets. Portland: 1926. PS3519.O5 S5
  • Jones, Thomas, Jr. Sonnets of the New World. Portland: 1930. PS3519.O5 S58 1930
  • Lang, Andrew. Aucassin et Nicolette. Portland: 1909. PQ1426.E5 L3 1909
  • Lee, Vernon. In Praise of Old Gardens. Portland: 1912. SB454 .P3
  • Lee, Vernon. The Legend of Madame Krasinska. Portland: 1915. PR5115.P2 L4 1915
  • Meredith, George. Modern Love and Other Poems. Portland: 1910. PR5008 .M6 1910
  • Michelangelo Buonarroti. The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti. Portland: 1909. PQ4615.B6 A27 1909
  • Mosher, Thomas Bird. A List of Books Issued in Limited Editions. Portland: 1898. Z1028 .M67 1898
  • Mosher, Thomas Bird. The Mosher Books: A List of Belles Lettres Issued in Limited Editions. Portland: 1906-1917, 1922. Z1028 .M6
  • Paillou, Francesca. A Handful of Songs. Portland: 1930. PS3531.A265 H3 1930
  • Pater, Walter. The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry. Portland: 1924. N6915 .P32 1924
  • Pater, Walter. Uncollected Essays. Portland: 1903. PN511 .P18
  • Reese, Lizette. A Branch of May: Poems. Portland: 1909. PS2693 .B7 1909
  • Robinson, A. Mary. Songs from an Italian Garden. Portland: 1913. PR4629.D18 I7 1913
  • Russell, Bertrand. A Free Man’s Worship, with a Special Preface. Portland: 1927. B1649.R93 M93 1927
  • Russell, George. Homeward: Songs by the Way. Portland: 1904. 828 R913h
  • Sharp, William. The Divine Adventure. Portland: 1903. PR5354 .D55 1903
  • Sharp, William. The House of Usna: A Drama. Portland: 1903. PR5354 .H6
  • Sharp, William. A Little Book of Nature Thoughts. Portland: 1908. QH81 .S52
  • Sharp, William. The Wayfarer. Portland: 1906. PR5354 .W3 1906
  • Shelley, Percy. Lyrical Poems. Portland: 1910. PR5402 1910
  • Stevenson, Robert Louis. Crabbed Age & Youth, & Other Essays. Portland: 1907. PR5488 .C7
  • Thompson, Francis. The Hound of Heaven. Portland: 1908. PR5650 .H6 1917
  • Underwood, Edna. Attic Twilights. Portland: 1928. PS3541.N55 A8 1928
  • Underwood, Edna. Improvisations.... Portland: 1929. 818 Un2im
  • Wilde, Oscar. The Happy Prince, and Other Tales. Portland: 1907. PR5818 .H2 1907
  • Yeats, William Butler. The Land of Heart’s Desire. Portland: 1903. PR5904 .L3 1903

Special Collections has the following secondary resources relating to the Mosher Press:

  • Hatch, Benton. A Check List of the Publications of Thomas Bird Mosher of Portland, Maine, MDCCCXCI to MDCCCCXXIII. Northampton: Printed at the Gehenna Press for the University of Massachusetts Press, 1966. Z232.M886 H3 1966
  • Mosher, Thomas Bird. A List of Books Issued in Limited Editions. Portland: Thomas B. Mosher, 1898. Z1028 .M67 1898
  • Mosher, Thomas Bird. The Mosher Books: A List of Belles Lettres Issued in Limited Editions. Portland: T.B. Mosher, 1906-1917, 1922. Z1028 .M6
  • Vilain, Jean-Francois. Thomas Bird Mosher and the Art of the Book. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis, 1992. Z232.M886 V55 1992