Norman W. Forgue Collection

Abstract

Norman Forgue was a bookmaker, typographer and founder of several private presses including At the Sign of the Gargoyle, The Black Cat Press, The Norman Press and Normandie House. The collection includes keepsakes, books and booklets, printed advertising and promotional material, greeting cards from his presses, a small selection of correspondence with Lloyd Emerson Siberell and a carbon typescript of an unpublished memoir about his youth called, Suddenly I Remember.

Biographical Note

Norman W. Forgue was born on November 12, 1904 in Chicago. His family resided at various houses in Chicago’s Near West Side neighborhood where his father had an ice delivery business in the 1910s. In an unpublished memoir of his youth, Suddenly I Remember, Forgue describes seeing a printing press for the first time in his uncle’s basement. Around the age of thirteen, Forgue took his first fulltime job with Rathburn, Grant and Heller, printers at Harrison and Wells Streets where he performed odd jobs in the composing rooms. With the assistance of his Uncle Lou, Forgue got his apprentice card in Franklin Union No. 16 and began rotating to print shops around Chicago. In 1919, Forgue applied for a job in the switchboard department of Western Electric, but landed in their pressroom where he was enticed by a possible bonus to print thousands of envelopes on an 8x12 Chandler & Price press. When the so-called reward turned out to be thousands more envelopes, he joined the Navy, where he also ended up in the print shop.

In the 1920s, Forgue returned to Chicago. He began as a compositor at Book Press (later R & S Printing Company) at Ravenswood and Lawrence Avenues, but quickly rose in the ranks to foreman and superintendent. During this time, Forgue became acquainted with fine printing. He began The Black Cat Press in 1932 to publish fine press keepsakes and booklets and it continued to release titles for decades to come, including Forgue’s 1954 autobiographical essay, Poorer Richard: An Almanac Long after Franklin. In 1937, Forgue established Normandie House to manage the production of full-length books and in 1939 he began The Norman Press with Frederick Ryder. Located at 510 N Dearborn, The Norman Press specialized in book design and typography, but also produced an assortment of commercial services. In 1974, The Norman Press joined Schori Pres in Evanston. Other ventures included his direction of a jazz and blues music label, Stepheny Records (1956-1960) at 1800 Asbury Avenue, Evanston, Illinois.

According to a 2014 blog by his daughter, Stepheny Forgue Houghtlin, Norman W. Forgue died in 1983.

Scope and Content

The Norman W. Forgue Collection consists of material produced by, or in conjunction with At the Sign of the Gargoyle, The Black Cat Press, The Norman Press, Normandie House or Norman Forgue: bookmaker, typographer and founder of the above private presses. The collection includes keepsakes, books and booklets, printed advertising and promotional material, greeting cards, a small selection of correspondence with Lloyd Emerson Siberell and a carbon typescript of an unpublished memoir about his youth called, Suddenly I Remember.

Arrangement

The Norman W. Forgue Collection is arranged into four Series:

• Series 1: Biographical, 1942-1969
• Series 2: Promotional Materials, 1933-1974, undated
• Series 3: Keepsakes and Booklets printed by Norman W. Forgue, 1934-1956, undated
• Series 4: Keepsakes and Booklets by Other Printers, 1878-1976, undated

Controlled Vocabulary

• At the Sign of the Gargoyle (Chicago, Ill.)
• Black Cat Press
• Forgue, Madeline
• Forgue, Norman W.
• Norman Press
• Normandie House
• Stepheny Records
• Fine books -- Publishing -- Illinois – Chicago
• Printing history
• Printing -- United States -- Specimens
• Publishers and publishing -- Illinois – Chicago
• Small presses -- Illinois -- Chicago
• Women printers -- United States

Related Collections

• Chicago Printers Guild Records
• Miniature Book Collection
• Book Collections:
  • Cave, Roderick. The Private Press. New York: Watson-Guptill Publishers, [1971].
  • Cave, Roderick. The Private Press. Second Edition. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1983.
  • Haas, Irwin. Bibliography of American Presses. Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1935
  • Inland Printers: The Fine Press Movement in Chicago, 1920-1945, Chicago: Caxton Club of Chicago, 2003
  • Northern Illinois University, DeKalb. Libraries. The Private Press in the Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University, [1973].

Collection Inventory

Series 1: Biographical, 1942-1969

Scope and Content

Series 1 contains the typescript of his 1942 memoir, Suddenly I Remember, along with a selection of correspondence with collector, Lloyd Emerson Siberell.

Arrangement

Series 1 is arranged alphabetically by type of material.

Series 2: Promotional Materials, 1933-1974, undated

Scope and Content

Series 2 contains promotional materials created by or related to one of Forgue’s printing imprints; his label, Stepheny Records or his professional activities. This series includes several The Black Cat Press catalogs, Purrings, and a run of advertisements for The Norman Press called, Dear Diary.

Arrangement

Series 2 is arranged alphabetically by press or organization.

Series 3: Keepsakes and Booklets Printed by Norman W. Forgue, 1934-1956, undated

Scope and Content

Series 3 includes books, booklets and other keepsakes that were printed by Forgue for Sign of the Gargoyle, The Black Cat Press, The Norman Press, Normandie House, or other typographical affiliations.

Arrangement

Series 3 is arranged alphabetically by press and then by author.

Series 4: Keepsakes and Booklets Printed by Other Printers, 1878-1976, undated

Scope and Content

Series 4 includes books, booklets and other keepsakes that were printed by other printers and presses. It is unclear if or what relationship these creations may have had with Forgue directly.

Arrangement

Series 4 is arranged alphabetically by press or printer.

Bibliography

Special Collections at Harold Washington Library Center holds the following items published by At the Sign of the Gargoyle, The Black Cat Press, The Norman Press, and Normandie House. Please consult Chicago Public Library online catalog for more information.

• Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Chicago: At the Sign of the Gargoyle, 1943
• America[From Of Time and the River]. Chicago: The Norman Press, 1942
• Arabian Nights. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Chicago: At the Sign of the Gargoyle, 1943
• Browne, Irene. Love Poems of an Artist’s Model, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1935
• Concidine, J. Francis. The Ballad of Smokey Joe, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1934
• Concidine, J. Francis. The Dude Retires, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1950
• Concidine, J. Francis. Singing Rails. Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1934
• Davis, Frank Marshall. Black Man’s Verse, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1935
• Davis, Frank Marshall. I Am the American Negro, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1937
• Davis, Frank Marshall. Through Sepia Eyes, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1938
• Derleth, August. Any Day Now, Chicago: Normandie House, 1939
• Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol in Prose, Chicago: The Norman Press, undated
• An Appreciation. . . July 23, 1938, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1938
• Fisher, A. Hugh. Callisto, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1934
• Fisher, A. Hugh. Jemshid in Exile and Other Poems, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1937
• Forbidden Fruit, Chicago: Eros Society of Chicago, 1936
• Foreman, Grant. The Adventures of James Collier: First Collector of the Port of San Francisco, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1937
• Forgue, Norman. Poorer Richard: An Almanac Long After Franklin, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1954
• Gallienne, Wilfred Hanford. Let Shakespeare Speak, Chicago: The Norman Press, undated
• Gemon, Blaine Brooks. Lincoln in the Political Circus, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1936
• Gems of Thought, Wisdom & Inspiration, compiled by Walter Norman May, Chicago: The Norman Press, 1965
• Haas, Irvin. Biography of American Presses, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1935
• Harris, George Washington. Sut Lovingood Travels With Old Abe Lincoln, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1937
• Hartman, Frank E. The Sonnets of Frank E. Hartman, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1934
• Herndon, William Henry. Lincoln’s Religion, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1936
• A History of Stone & Kimball and Herbert S. Stone & Company, Chicago: The Norman Press, 1940
• Ingersoll, Chester. Overland to California in 1847, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1937
• Jones, Dan Burne. The Least of These: Mickey, Beloved Itinerant; and An Eerie Incident: A True Tale of Innocence, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1938
• Klinefelter, Walter. Books About Poictesme, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1937
• Klinefelter, Walter. Ex Libris: A Conan Doyle; Sherlock Holmes, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1938
• Larson, Fred Thomas. Wood Engravings, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1938
• Let Shakespeare Speak: A Timely Symposium of the Bard’s Opinions on Contemporary Events, Chicago: The Norman Press, 1942
• Lincoln Group Papers, edited for the Literary Group by Douglas C. McMurtrie. 2 v. Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1936-1945
• Lucretius Carus, Titus. Lucretius on Life & Death, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1936
• Mangan, James T. Learn to Write, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, [1937]
• Mangan, James T. Push!, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1937
• McMurtrie, Douglas C. The Mississippi Banking Act of 1809, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1936
• McMurtrie, Douglas C. Montana Imprints, 1864-1880, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1937
• Middleton, R. Hunter. Chicago Letter Founding, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1937
• Middleton, R. Hunter. W.G. An Appreciation, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1938
• Miniature Broadsides, Chicago: [no publisher], 1962
• Morley, Christopher. No Crabb, No Christmas, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1938
• Nichols, Dale. A Philosophy of Esthetics, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1938
• Orton, Vrest. Goudy: A Master of Letters, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1939
• Paul, Louis. The Man Who Left Home, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1938
• The Quick Brown Fox: A Chap Book, Chicago: At the Sign of the Gargoyle, 1945
• Spuehler, Ruth E. Hinesley. Esther: A Narrative Poem in Fifteen Chapters From the Book of Esther, Chicago: Twin Oaks Press, circa 1941
• Starrett, Vincent. Essay on Limited Editions, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1939
• Timothy, Peter. The Letters of Peter Timothy, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1935
• Todrin, Boris. 5 Days, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1936
• Todrin, Boris. The Room by the River, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1936
• Why the Chimes Rang: An Old Christmas Legend, Chicago: The Norman Press, 1940
• Wirtz, Robert White. Broken Chords: Excerpts from a Practice Book, Chicago: The Black Cat Press, 1934