Lens of Crystal [Number VIII of X in a special binding] by Skelton, Robin; Philpott, Sara (Artist) - 1996

[Monmouthshire]: The Old Stile Press, 1996. Limited Edition. Leather bound. Fine. Philpott, Sara. Number VIII of X copies in a special binding designed and executed by Peter R. Jones (from a total edition of 250), quarto size, [80] pp., signed by Robin Skelton, Sara Philpott and Peter R. Jones, with extra material about the special binding. This volume one of ten with a special binding by Peter R. Jones; Peter received his Licentiate of Designer Bookbinders in 1991, Fellow in 1995 and served as President from 2005-2007. He has exhibited widely and his work is represented in collections both private and institutional in the UK, Europe and the USA. Of his work, Peter says "My work is driven by structure and materials. There is a great sense of achievement to be gained from seeing the product of one's own labour." (n. b., above from the web site of Peter Jones.)

The work is by Robin Skelton (1925-1997), an English writer, editor, anthologist and Professor of English. The twenty-four poems in "Lens of Crystal" were written both as a tribute to his own Celtic ancestry and as a means of recognition for the English speaking world. The poems are taken from medieval Welsh texts from the sixth to the fourteenth-centuries, reproduced with humble mastery and taking few liberties.

Sara Philpott is a contemporary Welsh painter and printmaker. She responded to these poems of her homeland with lino images evoking scenes and shapes from nature, especially the Welsh landscape.

___DESCRIPTION: Quarter dark-blue morocco, boards covered in a heavy sculptural material, fore- and tail-edges uncut, black endpapers, thirty-seven images etched and cut on linoleum; Bembo and Nicolas Cochin type, hand and computer set, printed on paper from a special making of Zerkall mould-made, quarto size (11" by 8"), unpaginated with [80] pp., limited edition, number VIII of X copies in a special binding out of a total edition of 250, signed by the author, artist and binder at the colophon. Housed in publisher's slipcase covered in matching dark-blue/black paper. With extra material regarding the special binding by Peter R. Jones, four sheets printed on one side in black, with two tipped-in colour photographs, and one sheet of grey paper, folded once to make four pages, with two tipped-in colour photographs.

___CONDITION: A fine copy, internally bright and free of prior owner markings, corners straight, hinges tight, covers clean; slipcase is also fine, with no flaws or rubbing; clean, crisp, as new. The extra material is near fine, clean, without wear but for some creasing to the corners, and two of the photographs have detached.

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