Norman W. Forgue Collection
Scope and Contents
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material, greeting cards, a small selection of correspondence with Lloyd Emerson Siberell and a carbon typescript of an unpublished memoir about his youth called, Suddenly I Remember.
Dates
- 1878 - 1976
Creator
- Forgue, Norman W., 1904-1983 (Person)
Language of Materials
Materials are primarily in English with a couple of items in French and Latin.
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions. Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please request materials at least 24-hours prior to your research visit to coordinate access.
Conditions Governing Use
Please consult staff to determine ability to reuse materials from collection.
Biographical / Historical
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 In an unpublished memoir of his youth, Suddenly I Remember, Forgue describes seeing a printing press for the first time in his uncle’s basement.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.
Extent
2.5 Linear Feet (in 6 boxes and 1 oversize folder)
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.
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
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The autobiography and a selection of keepsakes were purchased from Mr. Richard Murian in 1996. The provenance for the remaining printed materials is unknown, however bookplates, correspondence, and addressed envelopes among the materials suggest that these items may have been part of the collection of Lloyd Emerson Siberell.
Bibliography
• 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
• FWG. 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. F.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
- At the Sign of the Gargoyle (Chicago, Ill.)
- Black Cat Press
- Fine books -- Publishing -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Norman Press
- Normandie House
- Printing -- United States -- Specimens Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Printing--History -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Publishers and publishing -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Small presses -- Illinois -- Chicago Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Stepheny Records
- Women printers -- United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Creator
- Forgue, Norman W., 1904-1983 (Person)
- Forgue, Madeline (Person)
Source
- Siberell, Lloyd Emerson (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Norman W. Forgue Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Additional materials and collection reorganization done by Michelle McCoy, 2019. Updated and reformatted for ArchivesSpace by Michelle McCoy, 2021.
- Date
- 2019
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Unit at Harold Washington Library Center Repository
Harold Washington Library Center, 9th Floor
Chicago Public Library
400 S. State Street
Chicago IL 60605 United States
(312) 747-4875
specoll@chipublib.org