Block, Printing
Block, Printing
Block, Printing

Block, Printing

Object number2019.69.1
Manufacturer
Date1893-1954
OriginPittsburgh, PA
MediumMetal; Wood; Ink
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
DescriptionRectangular bookplate printing block. Wooden block with metal printing sheet nailed to one face. Metal sheet's printing surface has inverted images and text including one crow in each top corner, a profile skull at center surrounded by decorative border and surmounted by smoke plumes(?), a row of books near bottom, and bookplate text at top and bottom. Wooden block has black ink stains from use.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 3.125 x 1.813 x 0.938 in. (7.9 x 4.6 x 2.4 cm)
InscriptionsMetal sheet has inverted raised text at top "Ex Libris / [illegible]" and at bottom "Richard S. Rauh".

Metal sheet has inverted engraved text to the viewer's top right of the skull "MD".

Historical NotesRichard S. Rauh bookplate printing block. This printing block for a bookplate belonged to Richard Solomon Rauh and was created by the local stationary firm J. R. Weldin Co. The company was founded by Josiah Ross Weldin in 1852 was located on Wood Street for over 160 years. In 2014, the company moved to the Gulf Tower. Richard Solomon Rauh was an advertising executive, philanthropist, cultural patron and Jewish communal leader throughout Western Pennsylvania. Rauh was born in Pittsburgh, one of two children of Bertha and Enoch Rauh. He graduated from Fifth Avenue High School and the University of Pittsburgh. He started the advertising firm Rauh & Rosenthal in the late 1910s and later went independent through the Richard S. Rauh Company. A leader in the field locally, Rauh pushed for the formation of an advertising association to advance the interests of the profession. His cultural accomplishments include co-founding the Pittsburgh Symphony Society and later the Pittsburgh Playhouse. With his wife, the actress Helen Wayne Rauh, he had one child, Richard Enoch Rauh.
Previous owner (1893 - 1954)
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