KELMSCOTT PRESS: ORBELIANI, Sulkhan-Saba, & Oliver Wardrop (trans.).

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The Book of Wisdom and Lies. First Kelmscott edition, one of 250 copies on paper, of this collection of traditional Georgian stories by the writer and diplomat, Prince Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani (1658-1725). translated by Oliver Wardrop.On 8 March 1894, Bernard Quaritch wrote to Morris asking whether the Kelmscott Press would print this volume. Morris was "to undertake the supervision (not the proof-reading) to supply paper, reproduce a portrait, etc." (Peterson, p. 75). Terms were agreed on 19 March and Quaritch noted that "I think the volume will form an original and respectable link in the series of Kelmscott press publications" (Peterson, p. 76). No portrait was included, but the engraved title is by Morris. The volume was published on 29 October 1894. There were no copies printed on vellum.This copy was formerly in the library of Norman J. Sondheim. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Sondheim (1914-2011) spent his adult life as a businessman in Pennsylvania. He was an executive of the Triangle Shoe Company and director of the Northeastern Symphony Orchestra. His collection of Kelmscott books included a copy of the Kelmscott Chaucer (sold at auction in 2012).

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