JESSIE MARION KING (1875-1949)
CHIVERS VELLUCENT BINDING, 1902
£7,560
Auction: Lots 267 to 528 | 18th April at 10am
Description
Rosalynde by Thomas Lodge, number 20 of 30 copies on Japanese vellum, signed by the illustrator, 10 plates by Edmund Sullivan, contemporary vellucent vellum by Chivers of Bath (gilt-stamped inside lower cover), with pictorial upper cover, and decorations on lower cover and spine by Jessie M. King, with some gilt ornamentation on upper cover, gilded to upper page edges and gilt panel to inside covers, 8vo, George Newnes, 1902, with slipcase
Footnote
Literature: White C. The Enchanted World of Jessie M King, Canongate 1989, p.32, pl.27, where a similar example is illustrated
Note: Two near identical versions of this design exist, the key difference being on the other version a knight is given an extravagant moustache. This has led to the supposition that King made use of this embellishment to disguise an accidental ink blot in the making of the binding. Almost contemporaneous to this work is the binding for 'L’Evangile de L'Enfance'. The latter was entered into the Turin Exhibition of 1902, where it received such acclaim as to be awarded a Gold Medal. For a woman to receive this accolade was highly unusual, as is demonstrated by the certificate being made out to ‘Signor Jessie King’. King's achievement is all the more remarkable given the early point in her career, as she was at this time both teaching and studying at the Glasgow School of Art.