[Fine Binding | Donnelley] The Collected Poems Of Rupert Brooke

Brooke, Rupert. The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke. London: Philip Lee Warner, Publisher to the Medici Society Ltd, 1919. Printed at the Chiswick Press using the Riccardi fount on Riccardi handmade paper. Limited to 1000 copies, of which this is #157. Title page and frontispiece portrait by Gwen Raverat. Bound in full burgundy crushed morocco by Donnelley, featuring a characteristic De Sauty design of the period, with four small inlaid green leaves at each corner of the front and rear boards, each connected by a dotted roll that extends to the edge of the board, and then continues along the edges to form a full rectangle. Five bands to spine with title in second compartment, "Chiswick Press" in fifth compartment and leaves in the first and sixth compartments. Leaves at corners of turn-ins, accented with small starburst tool. Grey endpapers. Measures approx. 6.5" x 9". Some slight rubbing; leaves on spine have faded. 

“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).