Hampstead Bindery.- Phillips (Stephen) Marpessa, exquisitely bound by The Hampstead Bindery, …

Hampstead Bindery.- Phillips (Stephen) Marpessa, hand-coloured head- & tail-pieces and 5 plates by Philip Connard, a couple tiny marginal nicks to edges, exquisitely bound in russet morocco at The Hampstead Bindery, almost certainly by P.A. Savoldelli, the covers onlaid with green and light & dark brown morocco, repeatedly tooled with a leaf, small circles and dots to a concentric circular pattern within a wide diamond-shaped frame of small gilt dots and similar leaf pattern to corners, smooth spine lettered vertically in gilt and with onlaid green morocco leaves, small circles and dots, green morocco doublures tooled with small gilt circles within a border of gilt tendrils and poppies of inlaid peach & red morocco, endpapers with small gilt heart corner-pieces recto, signed 'The Hampstead Bindery' in gilt to foot of front free endpaper, gilt gauffered edges, doublures with slight fading to extremities, rubbed at corners and joints, a few small nicks along joints, upper joint skilfully repaired, small 4to (binding 133 x 110mm.), 1900. ⁂ A stunning example of the work of the Hampstead Bindery. The earth-toned colour palette and leafy tools are a distinctive feature Savoldelli's work (see Maggs Bros. catalogue 1212 Bookbinding in the British Isles, no. 269). The Hampstead Bindery was founded by Frank Karslake, who later founded and promoted the Guild of Women Binders. The workshop closed around 1902. Provenance: 'E.S.W. from J.S.W. Santa Barbara Feb 14th 1909' (ink gift inscription to head of title).