[Fine Binding | Donnelley | Bruce Rogers] Oliver and Arthur

Liely, Wilhelm (trans). The History of Oliver and Arthur. Written in French in 1511, Translated into German by Wilhelm Liely in 1521, and now Done into English by William Leighton and Eliza Barrett. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1903. One of 330 numbered copies. Designed by Bruce Rogers at the Riverside Press with his initial worked into the colophon.

Bound in full dark brown morocco by Donnelley with blind tooled rules and a gilt dotted rule to each cover. Five bands to spine with title in gilt to second compartment and press in gilt to fifth compartment. Blind and gilt-dotted rules to turn-ins. Brown endpapers, top edge gilt. Housed in a fleece-lined slipcase. Measures 7.5" x 10.5". Some light fading to spine. Warde 39.

“For thirteen years [1923-1935], the Extra Bindery [at Donnelley] was headed by the distinguished English bookbinder Alfred de Sauty, who was recruited by T. E. Donnelley from the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. De Sauty immediately set the standard for American bookbinding when he hired three European-trained bookbinders, William Anson, Basil Cronk, and Leonard Mounteney. As was the European tradition, hand-binding at RR Donnelley was a team effort. The head of the bindery generally established the design and specified the materials. From there, a book passed through the hands of several staff members, each responsible for a particular aspect of the process; sewing, backing, tooling, and finishing” (University of Chicago Library).