News Release

San Francisco – The San Francisco Public Library proudly celebrates the life and contributions of publisher and bookseller Paul Elder in a survey exhibition, The Best in Books and Art: Paul Elder & Company, 1898-1968. The exhibition documents his career as proprietor of a significant San Francisco bookstore and will be on view in the Skylight Gallery of the Main San Francisco Public Library from January 17 to March 21, 2004.

Elder’s San Francisco store, located on Post Street, became a downtown fixture for fifty years selling Elder’s own publications and beautiful objects from the growing Arts & Crafts movement. Paul Elder & Company quickly became “the” bookstore for San Francisco’s elite; its customers included such distinguished figures as Phoebe Hearst, Henry Huntington, Gertrude Atherton and Ethel Barrymore. However, Elder also made a conscious effort not to exclude customers and made sure to incorporate items that appealed to all levels of San Francisco society including inexpensive yet elegant greeting cards and calendars. In fact, Elder kept his store well-stocked with books in a variety of bindings, so that a customer could choose an edition that fit their budget – mimicking the hand-press era when books were sold unbound so that the buyer could later bind them as they pleased.

An opening reception and program featuring curator David Mostardi will take place on January 17, 2004 in conjunction with the exhibition’s opening. The program will begin at 3:00 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium on the lower level of the Main Library and includes a slide show lecture titled Tour of Paul Elder’s Bookstores featuring rarely-seen photographs of Elder’s shops. A reception and exhibition viewing in the Skylight Gallery will immediately follow the program.

The exhibition The Best in Books and Art: Paul Elder & Company, 1898-1968 is sponsored by The Marjorie G. and Carl W. Stern Book Arts & Special Collections Center of the San Francisco Public Library. Support for the exhibition has been provided by the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.
For more information, please call 415-557-4277.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Interviews and photos are available; please contact Gabrielle Jones 415-557-4282 for more information.