A Thing of Beauty

Peter Harrington's specialists Sammy Jay and Dr Philip W. Errington have chosen Keats's words as the title for their latest catalogue A Thing of Beauty – celebrating the art and craft of beautiful book production and exceptional private press works.
The catalogue includes several Kelmscott Press books, which are undoubtedly a high point in the field of beautiful books, among them a Chaucer bound in an art-nouveau style. Other books include an intriguingly hand-coloured The Well at the World’s End, and naturally there is a Keats in a spectacular Zaehnsdorf exhibition binding.
It also offers fine examples from the 16th to the 20th century of printing on vellum as well as calligraphic illuminated manuscripts on vellum by Alberto Sangorski and Sidney Farnsworth; innovations in the art of illustration and colour printing, from the vibrant chromolithography of the 19th century to the luminous pochoirs of Émile Alain Séguy, in an inscribed copy of his Insectes portfolio and the famous Cranach Press Hamlet, one of 17 copies on Japanese paper, featuring the inventively printed woodcuts of Edward Gordon Craig. A catalogue on beauty obviously also includes an array of artists' books and there is a strong representation of creative work by women.
Keats said “A thing of beauty is a joy forever” and Sammy and Philip say in the foreword to their catalogue that these words may seem at odds with much of what we observe about the fleeting nature of beauty, but they hold defiantly true for the art of the written word and of all the craft that surrounds it: creative printing, intricate binding, and glorious illumination and illustration.
Philip, you said that one of your favourite works included in the catalogue is the undated “Apple Trees” by Cuala Industries.
"Yes, it was designed by Elizabeth Corbet (“Lolly”) Yeats and embroidered by her sister, Susan Mary (“Lily”), and influenced by Jack B. Yeats’s Broadside style. I’ve a very soft spot for Jack’s illustrations and this example of embroidery by his sister demonstrates Lily’s skills which she developed under May Morris’s embroidery workshop at Kelmscott House in the late 1880s. A range of stitching techniques provide a texture and depth to this piece.”
“We found the embroidered picture to be referenced in Pamela Todd's The Arts & Crafts Companion, where it accompanies the entry for Lily Yeats. The caption states that a linen label was sewn onto the reverse, reading “Embroidery Picture by sister of poet Yeats. Wedding present from Mary Geoffrey Holt (cousin of Yeats)”. This is, unfortunately, no longer present."
"Cuala Industries was established in 1908 and included an embroidery, weaving, and tapestry studio, a printing press, and a bindery. Lily Yeats ran the embroidery studio which, in keeping with the Cuala principles, promoted Irish crafts made from Irish materials. The majority of its employees were young local girls. It's £15,000."
Fascinating how much the Yeats sisters were influenced by Kelmscott - you have also included a Kelmscott Press binding of John Keats's The Poems (1894). Tell us a bit more about that, Sammy
"It is one of 300 copies of the first Kelmscott edition, printed on paper from a total edition of 307, described as “the most sought after of all the smaller Kelmscott Press books”. This copy is in a contemporary Zaehnsdorf "exhibition binding", indicating work by the binder executed to the highest standards in both choice of materials and in the forwarding and finishing."
"As an undergraduate, Morris had owned an 1854 edition of Keats’s Poetical Works and admitted that his own poetry was indebted to that of Keats. The Kelmscott edition was issued on 8 May 1894 and it went out of print really quickly. Joseph William Zaehnsdorf was then running the business, but the binding dating from the year of publication is unusual - his fame as a bookbinder was world-wide. There is scarcely a library of importance which does not contain examples of his craftsmanship”. (£20,000)
You also have a copy of the most famous book from the Kelmscott Press. Tell us a little about that, Philip.
"Yes, we have a magnificent copy of Morris’s masterpiece, The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, in a fine and entirely appropriate contemporary pigskin binding, recorded as “unlocated” in the census. The first known owner of this copy was the Belgian politician and banker, Théophile Charles André de Lantsheere. One of 425 copies on paper, printed in 1896, Lantscheere presumably commissioned the distinguished bookbinder Paul Claessens to bind this copy in an appropriate design. At the turn of the 20th century, Brussels had become a focal point for the arts and crafts movement."
"The Kelmscott Chaucer was the result of close collaboration between Morris and Burne-Jones over four years. Morris designed the watermark for the paper, which was copied from an Italian incunable in his own collection and made entirely of linen by Batchelor. Burne-Jones spent his Sundays on the book’s 87 illustrations, working long hours in fear that Morris, whose health deteriorated alarmingly, might die before the project was finished. Burne-Jones’s delicate pencil drawings were photographed by Emery Walker’s firm and the young Birmingham artist Robert Catterson-Smith worked over them in Chinese white and Indian ink, rendering them more like woodcuts. The designs were then transferred to wooden blocks and engraved by William Harcourt Hooper. The book was completed just before Morris's death." (£250,000)
You mention calligraphy and one of the most prominent calligraphers and illuminators of the early 20th century was undoubtedly Alberto Sangorski. - the elder brother of Francis Sangorski, co-founder with George Sutcliffe of the prestigious London binders Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Tell us about your example, Sammy.
"Well, we have a fine example of his work, an ornate manuscript on vellum, The Woodman and the Nightingale and To Night by Percy Bysshe Shelley. In 1916 Alberto Sangorski designed, wrote out, and illuminated the work for Rivière & Son. Alberto’s career is fascinating. Heabandoned his early employment as secretary to a goldsmith and took up the art of calligraphy around 1905. At first he worked for his brother's company (and worked on “The Great Omar” that sank without trace in 1912 when in transit to America aboard the Titanic). Then he fell out with his brother, who would not let him sign his manuscripts, and around 1910 took his talents to Sangorski & Sutcliffe’s rivals, Rivière & Son, where he was free to sign his own work." (£57,500)
Which work surprised you from a technical point of view, Philip?
"Hamlet by the Cranach Press, which was founded by Harry Graf Kessler with the intention to print the finest possible editions of the world’s greatest literature in new and important German translations. To this end Kessler employed print-men and illustrators of outstanding ability and commissioned the renowned poet Gerhart Hauptmann to produce a new “definitive” translation of Shakespeare’s greatest play, Hamlet. Originally intended for publication in 1928, the work was not finished until 1929, due in large part to the struggle Hauptmann had with his desire for perfection."
"Part of the technical brilliance of this edition is seen in the extraordinary printing of some of the cuts, where there exist in the same plate two distinct tones: for example, in the court scene, Hamlet is dark, and the mask of the player is exaggerated and enhanced. This was achieved through the laborious layering of precisely cut tissue on the tympan of the press which applied differing pressures across the form. Nothing like this had previously been done and the results are remarkable." (£12,500)
There are quite a few impressive embroidered works, which ones stand out for you, Sammy?
"Śakoontalá by Kalidasa from 1885 is a first edition and in a spectacular contemporary embroidered binding featuring motifs from Hindu mythology and culture. The emphasis on ornamental embroidery in the arts and crafts movement saw a revival of embroidered bindings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This example, likely produced in America, showcases various techniques. Stump work, a style in which stitched figures are raised from the surface, is used on the covers to make the illustrations stand in relief on the velvet ground. The facial features of Surya and the charioteer are detailed with penwork. The tridimensionality of the compositions is further emphasised by the extensive use of silver and gold metallic wires and sequins. Although these decorative methods and materials have been employed on bindings since the 17th century, such an intricate design combining them all together is atypical, especially for this period. The subject is also unusual, as embroidered bindings more traditionally feature simple floral designs." (£7,500)
"There is also a splendid 17th-century English stumpwork table cabinet, its surfaces skilfully embroidered and its interior a maze of concealed compartments. The talented female embroiderer has employed a rich variety of needlework techniques and materials to render biblical, mythological, and allegorical narratives which centre women and literature." (£65,000)
Are there other works by women that you feel stand out?
"There are only five examples of the single leaf of Wood is a Pleasant Thing to Think About by Virginia Woolf (1921) listed in libraries worldwide and the last copy to appear at auction was in 1987. The extract was printed as a broadside with new woodcuts by Vanessa Bell not published elsewhere. The broadside is of legendary scarcity, and little is known for certain about the printing." (£15,000)
"There is also an opportunity to see the process behind the printing of beautiful books. We have the original watercolour for “A look – a kiss – and he was gone” from Kay Nielsen’s In Powder and Crinoline (£60,000). As ever, with original artwork, there’s a depth and vibrancy to the watercolour. We then have the copperplates for this illustration, as used by the printers (£2,250). Finally there is the finished book in the signed limited edition (500 copies signed by the artist) (£2,750).” These three stages have never been placed side by side before and it’s a unique opportunity to see these things of beauty together”.
The full catalogue can be here https://www.peterharrington.co.uk/blog/thing-of-beauty