The Last Ride

East Aurora: Roycroft Press, 1900. Kinder, Louis. Octavo. 8ff., frenchfold. One of twenty-five (i.e., twenty-one) copies printed on vellum. Signed on the colophon by Elbert Hubbard, and with an inscription by the illuminator, Frances Carmody. Designed by Samuel Warner. Illustrated throughout with hand-illumined art nouveau borders. The Last Ride was one of only two or three books printed on pure vellum by the Roycrofters. The present copy features a magnificent binding by Louis Kinder of turquoise levant with intersecting brown and black morocco onlays, bordered in gilt, sweeping across both covers, and a gilt tooled fern spray radiating out from the center, against a backdrop of gilt-tooled stars. Elaborately tooled vellum doublures carry the fern motif inside, where they form a horizontal plane that divides the doublures into four sections, decorated with gilt strapwork, at the center of which are four tooled devices: a pair of clasped hands, a pair of hearts pierced by an arrow, an hourglass framed by a compass and scythe, and a memento mori. Stamp-signed on rear turn-in. Accompanying this copy is a small archive of letters, dated February and March, 1926, from Hubbard's son to a Canadian collector concerning the purchase of this book, which, according to Hubbard "had been put away by us as part of our permanent collection," but offered it to correct a misunderstanding about the availability of sheets for binding. Hubbard also admits that, despite the number of copies specified in the colophon, "only twenty-one copies were gotten out." It bears mentioning that the present copy is number 21. Arguably the most handsome book produced by the Roycrofters. Susan Thompson in "American Book Design and William Morris" noted: "Warner's masterpiece is probably the Art Nouveau borders he designed for 'The Last Ride.'" It is entirely fitting, then, that this Roycroft highspot should be contained within its best-known binder's most accomplished binding. Occasional flaking of the hand-coloring; faint scuff to outer edge of front cover onlay, else fine. Housed in publisher's cloth-backed paste paper box.