1Sport1963
Starting a new thread so that the Gregynog Press & Gwasg Gregynog special bindings can be shared and discussed. For those collectors who have not yet tipped their toe into the Gregynog waters, their titles offer a relatively more affordable alternative to the Private Press "Big Three" of Kelmscott, Doves, and Ashendene. That said, the special bindings of Gregynog (1922-1940), and its later incarnation, Gwasg Gregynog (1975-2015), are highly prized by collectors and tend to command a substantial premium over standard bindings. Special bindings were typically produced in limitations of 15-25 copies for each Press.
I'll prime the pump with photos of the Gregynog Press title: "The Plays of Euripides". Binding description: polished russet brown Levant morocco, gilt-blocked figures of Apollo on upper board and Achilles on lower board, each within triple gilt-ruled borders, spine with raised bands, lettered in gilt, teg; custom felt-lined wood slipcase.
My apologies for the less than stellar photography:
Euripides:
I'll prime the pump with photos of the Gregynog Press title: "The Plays of Euripides". Binding description: polished russet brown Levant morocco, gilt-blocked figures of Apollo on upper board and Achilles on lower board, each within triple gilt-ruled borders, spine with raised bands, lettered in gilt, teg; custom felt-lined wood slipcase.
My apologies for the less than stellar photography:
Euripides:
2ChestnutPress
>1 Sport1963: A beautiful edition in a beautiful binding.
I apologise in advance, but it puts me in mind of a joke that I feel compelled to share:
An Ancient Greek walks into a tailor’s shop with a pair of torn trousers.
“Euripidies?” says the tailor.
“Yup, Eumenidies?” replies the man.
But, yes, the book is sublime!!
I apologise in advance, but it puts me in mind of a joke that I feel compelled to share:
An Ancient Greek walks into a tailor’s shop with a pair of torn trousers.
“Euripidies?” says the tailor.
“Yup, Eumenidies?” replies the man.
But, yes, the book is sublime!!
3ultrarightist
Stunning. Thanks for the pics.
4Shadekeep
>1 Sport1963: Exquisite! Looking forward to more shares, too, it's a storied press with much beautiful output.
5Glacierman
>2 ChestnutPress: Love that joke! Here's the variation as I heard it told:
In ancient Athens, a man walked into a tailor's shop with a couple of torn togas.
He says to the tailor, "Eumenides?"
The tailor replies, "Why? Euripides?"
And I'm sure there are other variants out there as well.
In ancient Athens, a man walked into a tailor's shop with a couple of torn togas.
He says to the tailor, "Eumenides?"
The tailor replies, "Why? Euripides?"
And I'm sure there are other variants out there as well.
6BillWoodbridge
>1 Sport1963: A mighty start! The Euripides is a super book even in the ordinary binding, so to have both volumes bound together so spectacularly makes a massively imposing classic private press blockbuster.
And so to Gwasg Gregynog, who successfully continued the tradition of special bindings albeit with a variety of contemporary designer bookbinders rather than a single George Fisher-like figure.
Here’s a relatively little-known one and I think my favourite of those that I have. Appropriately enough, it’s 'The Special Bindings of Gwasg Gregynog' (Anthony Dowd, 2004), copy IV of fifteen bound by James Brockman MBE, who did several of the special bindings for the Press. For this book, he wrote a memoir of his year spent at Gregynog where he worked in George Fisher’s bindery as Gregynog Arts Fellow (after first having to clean and decorate it!). This binding came many years after that though, and it’s scarce even by GG special binding standards - I do wonder whether fifteen were actually done and I must ask James at some stage.
Technical description, with apologies in advance to any bookbinders who may be reading in case of mistakes: full black morocco with horizontal inlaid bands of yellow and tan leather spanning boards, backstrip and turn-ins, twenty-one randomly spaced circular cutouts from this pattern on upper and lower boards then interchanged and reapplied as inlays, some doubly-so, five horizontal gilt rules broken at the joints, all edges gilt, wood-veneer endpapers, gilt titling to backstrip, headband/tailband sewn in black with narrow stripes of yellow and blue, in a solander box of quarter-black morocco over black cloth with wooden rim and leather clasp, lined in black felt with yellow silk to inner edges, four small discs of coloured leather in recesses to the rim of the edge, gilt title to spine.
(It’s perhaps worth adding that the bindings of the ordinary edition of the book are more confusing than the ‘special’. The colophon, unusually for GG, is rather vague on the matter saying only that copies 1-200 were either supplied as unbound sheets or ‘bound at Gregynog by Alan Wood’. Copies tend to appear in either full blue cloth or full blue morocco, and I think both variants must have been done by Alan Wood).
And so to Gwasg Gregynog, who successfully continued the tradition of special bindings albeit with a variety of contemporary designer bookbinders rather than a single George Fisher-like figure.
Here’s a relatively little-known one and I think my favourite of those that I have. Appropriately enough, it’s 'The Special Bindings of Gwasg Gregynog' (Anthony Dowd, 2004), copy IV of fifteen bound by James Brockman MBE, who did several of the special bindings for the Press. For this book, he wrote a memoir of his year spent at Gregynog where he worked in George Fisher’s bindery as Gregynog Arts Fellow (after first having to clean and decorate it!). This binding came many years after that though, and it’s scarce even by GG special binding standards - I do wonder whether fifteen were actually done and I must ask James at some stage.
Technical description, with apologies in advance to any bookbinders who may be reading in case of mistakes: full black morocco with horizontal inlaid bands of yellow and tan leather spanning boards, backstrip and turn-ins, twenty-one randomly spaced circular cutouts from this pattern on upper and lower boards then interchanged and reapplied as inlays, some doubly-so, five horizontal gilt rules broken at the joints, all edges gilt, wood-veneer endpapers, gilt titling to backstrip, headband/tailband sewn in black with narrow stripes of yellow and blue, in a solander box of quarter-black morocco over black cloth with wooden rim and leather clasp, lined in black felt with yellow silk to inner edges, four small discs of coloured leather in recesses to the rim of the edge, gilt title to spine.
(It’s perhaps worth adding that the bindings of the ordinary edition of the book are more confusing than the ‘special’. The colophon, unusually for GG, is rather vague on the matter saying only that copies 1-200 were either supplied as unbound sheets or ‘bound at Gregynog by Alan Wood’. Copies tend to appear in either full blue cloth or full blue morocco, and I think both variants must have been done by Alan Wood).
7Sport1963
>6 BillWoodbridge: Fantastic. A beautiful book. To add a little to your thread I'm posting a "Special Bindings" custom binding that was done from the sheets. I much prefer yours. Also included in the pics (and the sole item in pic #3) is a custom binding of "Intimate Leaves from a Designer's Notebook". Both bindings were executed by Derek Lowe. I am not a fan of the "Intimate Leaves" binding. It does not work for a variety of reasons and feels like a student project gone awry.
The description for "Special Bindings": full black morocco with elaborate red morocco griffen design on front cover; red cloth felt-linedslipcase with black morocco along opening & ends, red silk ribbon.
The description for "Intimate Leaves": full black morocco with red leather design on front & rear covers; red title label on spine; housed in dark blue cloth felt-lined slipcase with black morocco along opening & ends; red silk ribbon
The description for "Special Bindings": full black morocco with elaborate red morocco griffen design on front cover; red cloth felt-linedslipcase with black morocco along opening & ends, red silk ribbon.
The description for "Intimate Leaves": full black morocco with red leather design on front & rear covers; red title label on spine; housed in dark blue cloth felt-lined slipcase with black morocco along opening & ends; red silk ribbon
8Sport1963
Gregynog Press "Life of Saint David" (1927) - Special binding, one of 25 copies. Binding description: full scarlet levant polished morocco, sides blocked in gilt with a large cross framed with a double gilt rule, spine with 5 raised bands, panelled in gilt with gilt lettering, board edges ruled in gilt and turn-in with triple rule fillet; folding chemise and slipcase
9paulm16
>1 Sport1963: A copy of one of the 25 special bindings Gregynog Press title: "The Plays of Euripides" is up for auction today. One of the copies bound by John Ewart Bowen.
Forum Auctions Lot 383
Forum Auctions Lot 383
10Lukas1990
>9 paulm16: It wasn't sold in a previous auction. The starting price was 3000 GBP if I remember correctly. Now it is just 1500 GBP. It will sell for more. Maybe even more than 3000 GBP. It is a very undervalued book though it was the most expensive Gregynog book at the time of publication. I own the regular edition and it is perfect in all aspects with an exception of the cloth binding which though was considered durable by Gregynog, didn't age well in the majority of copies I've seen.
11wcarter
URL for Euripedes auction is https://www.forumauctions.co.uk/catalog?gridtype=listview&lang=en&query=...
12BillWoodbridge
>8 Sport1963: Now that is fabulous! And on one of the most prized books of the Press too.
>7 Sport1963: Re. the one-off bindings of sheets - there are a lot of these around of course, partly because GG encouraged (and discounted) the sale of sheets to binders. Paul Delrue did several quite spectacular ones. I think I agree with you about the relative merits of these two!
It's probably time for a plug for 'The Miss Margaret Davies Complete Collection of Special Gregynog Bindings' (De Zilverdistel, 1994) just in case there's anyone who's not aware of it. Strictly speaking it's a bookdealer's catalogue, although this is an inadequate description of the scale of the book's ambition. Astonishingly comprehensive descriptions, colour plates and even oral reminiscences from George Fisher. It's got a lot of detail on the Euripides Fisher / Bowen split for example. It far surpasses Harrop (who gave her blessing to the book and contributed the introductory essay) in bibliographic and sometimes historical detail, in the process becoming a vital reference for the standard books as well. (The magnificent collection was in fact sold within 24 hours of its arrival at De Zilverdistel, but the purchaser generously allowed the 'catalogue' project to go ahead notwithstanding). There are always plenty of copies around.
>7 Sport1963: Re. the one-off bindings of sheets - there are a lot of these around of course, partly because GG encouraged (and discounted) the sale of sheets to binders. Paul Delrue did several quite spectacular ones. I think I agree with you about the relative merits of these two!
It's probably time for a plug for 'The Miss Margaret Davies Complete Collection of Special Gregynog Bindings' (De Zilverdistel, 1994) just in case there's anyone who's not aware of it. Strictly speaking it's a bookdealer's catalogue, although this is an inadequate description of the scale of the book's ambition. Astonishingly comprehensive descriptions, colour plates and even oral reminiscences from George Fisher. It's got a lot of detail on the Euripides Fisher / Bowen split for example. It far surpasses Harrop (who gave her blessing to the book and contributed the introductory essay) in bibliographic and sometimes historical detail, in the process becoming a vital reference for the standard books as well. (The magnificent collection was in fact sold within 24 hours of its arrival at De Zilverdistel, but the purchaser generously allowed the 'catalogue' project to go ahead notwithstanding). There are always plenty of copies around.
13Sport1963
>12 BillWoodbridge: Thanks for the tip on 'The Miss Margaret Davies Complete Collection of Special Gregynog Bindings' (De Zilverdistel, 1994). That's a must for my reference shelf.
>11 wcarter: I see the Fisher deluxe binding Euripides that sold at a Forum auction back in September for a hammer price of 8,000GBP commanded a handsome premium over the John Ewart Bowen bound special (the one I own) - hammer price 2,200GBP today. Timing is everything, I suppose.
>11 wcarter: I see the Fisher deluxe binding Euripides that sold at a Forum auction back in September for a hammer price of 8,000GBP commanded a handsome premium over the John Ewart Bowen bound special (the one I own) - hammer price 2,200GBP today. Timing is everything, I suppose.
