Messer Pietro Mio: The Engravings
Libanus Press, 1985.
Limited edition, no. 16 of 100 sets. Twelve mounted engravings from "Messer Pietro Mio. Letters between Lucrezia Borgia and Pietro Bembo", each signed and numbered by the artist. All housed in a tan linen box with title labels to spine and upper cover. Fourteen mounted engravings by Richard Shirley Smith. A fine set in a near fine box.
Libanus Press published the first English translation of the letters between Lucrezia Borgia and Pietro Bembo, featuring the wood engravings of Richard Shirley Smith, in 1985. Twelve of these original engravings are presented in this portfolio, each signed and numbered by the artist.
Gordon Smith, a senior member of the Bookplate Society, met Shirley Smith at an exhibition and asked him if he would "design an ex-libris for me to include my interest in the subjects of sculpture, wine and the female nude. Richard then showed me... a painting he had done earlier and it so encapsulated everything I wanted that we agreed on that very subject." [B North Lee]
Bookplate of Gordon P Smith, signed by Shirley Smith, to the inner lid of the box.
Stock ID: 45302
