THE YERKES COLLECTION OF ORIENTAL CARPETS. A Limited and Deluxe Portfolio Containing Twenty-Seven Facsimile Reproductions in Color. With Critical Text by John Kimberly Mumford

John Kimberly Mumford

New York : Knapp Company, 1910

Elephant folio, 36 x 55 cm. Unnumbered copy of 750. Contemporary 3/4 red leather. Rubbing, minor chipping. Splitting to joints. Plates clean. Comprises 8 pages of introductory text followed by 27 bifolia with commentary on second page and color relief half-tone of carpet on facing third page.

Charles Tyson Yerkes, the infamous banker who was responsible for building a large part of Chicago's transit system, had visions of an elaborate catalogue of hand-painted reproductions illustrating the finer examples of oriental carpets in his collection. His death in 1905 prevented the project from being finished, and in 1910, when the bulk of his estate was to be sold, this catalogue was published. BMC XXVII, 697.196