God sent us here to make mistakes, To strive, to fail, to re-begin, To taste the tempting fruit of sin, And find what bitter food it makes
Poems of Sentiment
Gay and Hancock, 1909.
A fine vellucent binding by Cedric Chivers of Bath. 8vo (binding dimensions 17x11cm; page dimensions 16.5x10cm). Double gilt rules to upper cover, enclosing a painted floral design on a green background, calligraphic titles, inlaid mother of pearl hearts, and small gilt dots. Double gilt rules to spine, two inlaid mother of pearl hearts, painted design, and calligraphic titles. Double gilt rules to lower cover, with a painted thistle in the centre, and an inlaid mother of pearl heart above it. Gilt turn-ins, the rear turn-in signed "Cedric Chivers Bath". Top edge gilt. A near fine example, the binding very well preserved indeed. The contents rather foxed. Bookplate of one Cecil Francis Milsom to front pastedown, gift inscription to front free endpaper.
A well-preserved Cedric Chivers vellucent binding of a most attractive design.
Chivers's technique reintroduced the style of painted vellum bindings produced by Edwards of Halifax in the 18th century, but rather than have his artists paint directly onto the vellum, they would paint on paper under a transparent layer of vellum. This preserved the design, and allowed "mother of pearl and other exotic materials [to be] added as highlights under the vellum", as in the present example (Tidcombe). The gold tooling, so deftly employed here, would then be added to the surface of the vellum.
Stock ID: 42488
£2,000.00
