SMITH, Sally Lou. ~ Four Lectures by T.J. Cobden Sanderson.
Edited by John Dreyfus. One of 450 copies. 4to., in a special designer binding Sally Lou Smith, signed with her monogram on the lower doublure, full white pigskin with a tree trunk like design down both sides of unlaid puckered black and slightly varying brown moroccos with angular gilt ruled lines, the inner doublures of black morocco have the same pattern with inlaid varying brown moroccos with angular blind and gilt patterns tooled onto it, spine lettered in gilt, housed in the original black morocco backed, black cloth clamshell box with gilt lettering on spine. In very good condition.
Together with a signed, handwritten letter by Sally Lou Smith from her home in London and dated 18 November 1996 describing the book’s provenance to Mr Robert Dietz, the collector from New Mexico. She lets him know that she bound the book in 1976 as a commission from Norman Strouse. “I have no news of where it has been since Mr Strouse had it but am very pleased to know where it is now”.
Sally Lou Smith (1925-2007) was one of the most influential teachers of fine binding in the UK and a Fellow and President of Designer Bookbinders. Two great masters of the art of binding meet in the creation of this book - a triumph. The binding reflects Sally Lou Smith’s words on binding she wrote in ‘A Bookbinders’ Florilegium’ : “I bind books for the love of it....Bookbinding is both an homage paid and a responsibility to the many qualities implied by the simple word “book”. Putting an appropriate binding on the book is part of the responsibility...essentially I bind books for myself”