[Fine Binding | Donnelley | Alfred de Sauty] Tales

Poe, Edgar Allan. Tales. Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1930. Limited to 1,000 copies. Designed and illustrated by W. A. Dwiggins. Issued as one of The Lakeside Press' "Four American Books" series.

Bound by Donnelley to a design by Alfred de Sauty in full black crushed morocco with a stark red inlaid design of three descending drops of "blood" into a red pool made up of a long red band with a central "splash". Five bands to spine, with title and author to second compartment, and small red leather panel at the foot lettered "The Lakeside Press / Chicago - 1930", keeping the "blood pool" design consistent from front to rear. Gilt-rolled turn-ins; red endpapers, top edge black. Housed in original plain black slipcase with red opening edges. Measures approx. 5.5" x 7.75".

A faint area of discoloration to the rear cover. Slipcase worn, but intact. A beautiful example.

This binding was featured in the Hunt Institute/Carnegie-Mellon exhibition "The Tradition of Fine Bookbinding in the Twentieth Century" (1979-1980) and is pictured in the catalogue (see final image in this listing).

A striking de Sauty design in its simplicity and perfectly appropriate for this volume.

“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).