Of Gardens.

Bacon (Francis), RILEY (Dominic) [Binder] & PENNELL (Betty)

Of Gardens.

DOMINIC RILEY BINDING INSPIRED BY GARDENS

One of 220 copies. 6 perspex engravings by Betty Pennell printed in black, 3 of which are full-page. 4to., 32x24cm, 16pp. Later fine binding by Dominic Riley in full black goatskin, covers with meandering pattern of gilt dots forming a curved path surrounded by irregular sections of black goatskin inlay in triangle and lozenge shapes, each on a background of either blue, green, white and yellow and each tooled in gilt with floral designs, spine lettered in blind, pastedowns with similar design in blind each with one triangle shape in white onlay, binders signature stamp in blind to tail of rear pastedown, reversed calf endpapers, with original black cloth drop back box, upper cover with white goatskin onlay lozenge, spine titled in gilt on green goatskin label. Huddersfield, Fleece Press, 1993.

£6,000.00

Fine.

For his binding, Dominic Riley took as inspiration the wandering paths one takes through a garden, the course outlined in a curving line of gilt dots. The flowerbeds of this imagined garden appear as sections of gilt tooled inlay taken from his binding on the Kelmscott Chaucer, now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The whole presents a garden which seems delicately balanced between order and chaos, the meandering path reminiscent of lazy summer days spent enjoying ‘the purest of human pleasures… the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man.’

In Dominic Riley’s words, ‘the cover design depicts a walk through a special, private garden. The gold dotted lines represent two friends walking through the formal flower beds. The gold tooled inlays are inspired by William Morris’s ornamental borders used in his fabulous Kelmscott Chaucer.’

Stock No.

258952

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