The Centaur Book Shop was opened on 1224 Chancellor Street in Philadelphia by Harold Mason. Initial funding was partially supplied by John Frederick Lewis, the Philadelphia bibliophile and philantrophist whose important contributions to the Free Library of Philadelphia include extensive collections of manuscripts held in the Rare Book Department and early 20th century art books held in the Art Department. 

Lynne Farrington, Senior Curator for Special Collections in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania, shared some of her ongoing research on the Centaur's history and talked about the Centaur books in the Free Library's collections during a recent lecture held at Parkway Central Library.

The Centaur was much more than just a shop; in addition to stocking the latest avant-garde literature it functioned as a public literary salon and private meeting club for Philadelphia's intellectual elites. Mason's interest in fine private press productions led him to establish the Centaur Press, which kicked off in 1924 with Song of the Broad-Axe, illustrated by local artist Wharton Esherick. 

Esherick is best remembered today for his sculpture and woodwork, including the iconic work created for the South Philadelphia Branch of the Free Library in 1965 entitled Rhythm nr.1. But he was also active as a printmaker using his same chosen medium and produced numerous woodcuts. Many of these were created to illustrate books published by the Centaur Press. Esherick was closely involved with the Centaur community and produced several versions of the centaur device including a sculptural sign for the shop. Other examples of Esherick's fine book work can be found at the Free Library, such as the woodcut illustrations for Amory Hare's Tristram and Iseult and Philip Dalmas' As I Watch'd the Ploughman Ploughing. His working studio has been preserved as the wonderful Wharton Esherick Museum in nearby Paoli. 

Harold Mason's Centaur Shop moved in 1933 to a building then owned by the Library Company of Philadelphia on 206 South Juniper and continued to publish works of verse and prose along with a bibliography series. Many books printed for the Centaur can be used in the Free Library; a list of them can be found in our catalog.

Source: Paul Eisenhauer and Lynne Farringston, editors. Wharton Esherick and the Birth of the American Modern. Atglen, Pa.: Schiffer Publishing Ltd in cooperation with Penn Libraries, 2010. 709.24 ES35E