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FENN, Patricia and Alfred P. MALPA.Rewards of Merit: Tokens of a Child’s Progress and a Teacher’s Esteem as an Enduring Aspect of American Religious and Secular Education.Broad Brook, CT: The Ephemera Society of America, 1994.
LIMITED EDITION, One of 175 copies signed by both authors.
A pristine, exceptionally complete specimen of the prized deluxe issue of Fenn and Malpa’s masterwork on early American educational print culture. While standard trade printings remain routinely encountered, this deluxe production—strictly restricted to 175 signed copies—stands as a monument of modern reference publishing.
Rewards of Merit provides an authoritative 224-page survey of the miniature certificates, engraved slips, and lithographed tokens presented in 18th- and 19th-century American classrooms. Far exceeding the scope of the ordinary trade edition, this deluxe issue incorporates a custom fine binding, a separate portfolio of loose facsimile ephemera allowing for hands-on examination, and the publisher’s dedicated presentation box.
Alfred P. Malpa was subsequently awarded the Maurice Rickards Award in 2021—the Ephemera Society’s highest academic distinction—underscoring the scholarly weight and enduring authority of this volume.
SPECIFICATIONS & COLLATION
Binding: Deluxe quarter leather over cloth-covered boards; front board featuring contrasting inlaid leather onlays; spine lettered in gilt; decorative endpapers.
Portfolio: Original standalone portfolio containing loose, full-scale reproductions of rare historic rewards of merit, school certificates, and early American typography.
Housing: Publisher’s original oversized cloth-covered clamshell presentation box.
Limitation: Signed by Patricia Fenn and Alfred P. Malpa on the limitation leaf. One of 175 copies.
Pagination: 224 pp., richly illustrated throughout.
CONDITION REPORT
The Book & Portfolio: FINE. The quarter-leather binding remains exceptionally fresh, tight, and unblemished with sharp corners and bright gilt. Internal contents are clean, crisp, and immaculate. The standalone portfolio and accompanying facsimile sheets appear unhandled and remarkably well-preserved.
Presentation Box: VERY GOOD+. Structurally sound, square, and robust. Light, unobtrusive shelf-wear and subtle surface smudging consistent with quiet storage.
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