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Opening on September 14, the Grolier Club of New York is
proud to present a special exhibition of The Neale M.
Albert Collection of Miniature Designer Bindings. As
part of its mission to promote the book arts, the Grolier
Club in its 122-year history has mounted numerous
exhibitions on both craft binding, and miniature books, but
this is the first show of works which combine the two
themes.
This remarkable collection includes two hundred and fifty
unique bindings for miniature books, each individually
commissioned by the collector from binders and book artists
such as Tim Ely, Roger Powell, Santiago Brugalla, Jean de
Gonet, and many others throughout the world. Mr. Albert
provided complete artistic freedom to the binders
represented in the collection, setting no restrictions on
either materials or theme. Following their inspiration,
these binders have crafted diminutive contemporary artworks
which stretch the limits of the binder's art, achieving
results at once poetic, whimsical and surprising. The
collection, a long-term passion of Mr. Albert, is the
world's largest assemblage of miniature commissioned
bindings, including examples from binders in America, Great
Britain, and Europe. While many of the designers and
craftspeople are well-known to bibliophiles, others were
discovered by Mr. Albert as the reputation of his project
grew.
Among the works on display is George Kirkpatrick's
remarkable version of the Atlas of the British
Empire, a facsimile of a book housed in the diminutive
library of Queen Mary's Dollhouse. The intricate
morocco-bound volume is housed within a baseball-sized
leather globe, in turn contained within a wooden box, all of
which are sized to fit in the palm of the hand.
Some of the tiny volumes transcend the concept of "binding."
For their collaborative design, Roger Powell and Peter
Waters created an ingenious "chained library" of six tiny
books shackled to a wooden lectern, all concealed in a
diminutive tooled-leather box; to house a small book in the
shape of a dog, binder Jill Oriane Tarlau fashioned an
exquisitely embroidered "doghouse;" while Eleanor Ramsey's
binding for Desert Tale resembles a jewelled bag
suitable for this Arabic treasure; and Deborah Evett's
ingenious leather binding for Covered Bridges in
Pennsylvania not only resembles these barn-like
structures, but opens to reveal a dark tunnel, joining the
book's subject and its structure.
Other designs are virtuoso displays, crafted in sumptuous
materials with elaborate technique. Spanish binder Santiago
Brugalla created a miniature binding in the "Cosway" style
for a volume of the Portraits of the Sovereigns of
England, with two miniature tooled royal portraits on
the cover. Susan Allix's binding for Shakespeare's
Flowers is enfolded by intertwined silver blossoms and
vines, which must be slipped off before the book can be
opened.
A fully-illustrated catalogue
of the exhibition (hardcover in slipcase) will be available,
featuring a foreword by Mr. Albert, an introduction by
Grolier Club member Priscilla Juvelis, and full descriptions
of the hundreds of tiny books on show, many composed by the
binders who created them. Designed by Joe Marc Freedman of
The Sarabrande Press, and printed in an edition of 2000,
copies will be available for purchase at The Grolier Club
and through The The Veatchs Arts of the Book, PO Box 328,
Northampton, MA 01060; phone: (413) 584-1867; fax: (413)
584-2751; e-mail: veatchs@veatchs.com.
LOCATION AND TIMES: The Neale M. Albert Collection of
Miniature Designer Bindings will be on view in the second
floor gallery of at the Grolier Club from. September 14 -
November 4, 2006. Hours: Monday-Saturday 10 AM - 5 PM. Open
to the public free of charge.
For more information e-mail Megan
Smith at the Grolier Club.
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