The Stanbrook Abbey Press, 1956-1990, and a Memoir of Dame Hildelith Cumming by The Abbess of Stanbrook (No. VI of XVII bound in inlaid Oasis leathers) de Butcher, David; Dreyfus, John (Introduction); Jamieson, Joanna, Dame, Abbess (Biographical Memoir) - 1992

Risbury, Herefordshire: The Whittington Press, 1992. Limited Edition. Leather. Fine. One of 17 bound in inlaid Oasis leather, folio size, 227 pp., signed by David Butcher and Dame Joanna Jamieson. This work serves the dual purpose of being a bibliography of the work produced by the Stanbrook Abbey Press for over 30 years, as well as being, as is stated in the Foreword, "a tribute to a remarkable printer - Dame Hildelith Cumming - who achieved standards of perfection in the design and printing of her publications which earned the Stanbrook Abbey Press a place among the great Private Presses". Published by The Whittington Press, another great private press, the book is impeccably presented.

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full in inlaid Oasis leathers presenting the silhouette of a habited nun with bowed head, top edge gilt, tan suede pastedown endpapers, tan laid paper free endpapers, frontispiece a black and white photograph of Dame Cumming reading in front of a mullioned window, title page in gold and black, five monochrome plates and forty leaves and illustrations all bound within the text, the first approximately 60 pages of the book discuss Dame Cumming and the history of the Press, with the remainder of the book being its bibliography; type Romulus, printed at the Whittington Press on Zerkall mould-made paper, small folio size (approximately 12.25" tall), pagination: (i)-xvi, (1)-225, etching of a habited nun at a printing press (226), colophon (227); limited edition of 350 total, this no. vi of xvii bound in inlaid Oasis leathers, signed on the colophon page by the author, David Butcher, and Dame Joanna Jamieson, then current Abbess of Stanbrook Abbey.

The specimens are enclosed in a separate folio covered in black laid paper with a black leather spine, with a listing of Portfolio Contents tipped into the inside front cover, itemizing the 30 specimens enclosed. Both are enclosed in a drop-back box covered in black cloth, black leather spine label with gilt lettering.

___CONDITION: Fine, with the leather binding being smooth and supple, a strong, square text block, solid hinges, perfectly straight corners with no rubbing, the interior is clean and bright, and it is entirely free of prior owner markings; there are some natural gradations of colour on the leather binding and the bottom corners show a tad of rubbing, else the book is crisp, as new. The folio and specimens are also fine; the specimens may have a shallow bend on the occasional piece but they are almost all in fine condition - the paper label itemizing the pieces does have a spot of minor soiling, else fine. The drop-back box enclosing both items is near fine, strong and sturdy, with some overall dustiness.

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