[Fine Binding | Donnelley] The Transmigrations of the Mandarin Fum-Hoam

[Gueullette, Thomas-Simon.] Smithers, Leonard C (editor). The Transmigrations of The Mandarin Fum-Hoam (Chinese Tales). London: H.S. Nichols and Co, 1894. "Six hundred and eighty copies only of this edition have been printed, seventy-five of which are on Arnold's unbleached hand-made paper, royal octavo, and five of which are on Japanese vellum, royal octavo." This copy is one of the seventy-five on Arnold's hand-made paper.

Bound in full vibrant red morocco by Donnelley, with gilt rules to covers and subtle fleuron design that extends from the bands around the second compartment of the spine onto the front and rear covers. Five bands to spine with title to second compartment. Gilt-ruled turn-ins, top edge gilt. Plain gray endpapers. Ads bound in at rear. Housed in its original red cloth flannel-lined slipcase (some rubbing and spots). A beautiful example, with some offsetting to endpapers, and some light spots & fingerprints to early pages of text.

An edited Victorian-era edition of Gueullette’s Chinese Tales..., framed as the Mandarin Fum-Hoam narrating a sequence of exotic, Arabian-Nights-style stories.

“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).