CHIVERS BINDING - KEATS, John.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Poems. Finely bound by Alice Shepherd of the Chivers bindery, first Robert Anning Bell illustrated edition, limited edition, number 24 of 125 printed on Japanese vellum. Alice Shepherd was in charge of the cut and modelled leather department at the Chivers bindery in Bath from 1897, which was comprised of women workers. Cedric Chivers (1853-1929), one of the most successful bookbinders of his time, had an aptitude for reviving binding styles that had fallen into desuetude. One such practise was so-called "cuir-bouilli" (literally "boiled leather") medieval leatherwork. Shepherd's "method was to mark the design on the damp leather, and then scrape the under (flesh) side of the leather with an ivory tool, to make a hollow within the area of the design. The hollow was filled with cement, and then, by manipulation and pressure, the design was brought into relief on the upper (hair) side of the leather. Any gilding, colouring, or finishing was done after the book was bound" (Tidcombe, p. 95).This volume's illustrator, Robert Anning Bell (1863-1933), was an early member of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society and the official illustrator of the Society's magazine The Studio; he was included in the exhibition "The Last Romantics" at the Baribican Art Gallery in 1989. Drawing inspiration from literary sources, his work was often "characterized by dreaming maidens in a setting of symbolist swirls" (ODNB).

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