• Original Art: Binding of Prue & I by George William Curtis
• Era: 1898
• Region: New York City
• Current Location: The New York Public Library in New York City, USA

Alive with opulence and splendour, no place was as magnificent during the Gilded Age (1870–1900) as New York City.

Brought to us through our partnership with The New York Public Library, this majestic New York Rose design is inspired by an 1898 binding produced by the Club Bindery, a leading design house of the era. Adorned with garlands of flowers that cascade gracefully, the gold embellishments of this cover design are rich with delicate details reflecting the original binding’s sophisticated beauty.

Club Bindery was formed in 1898 by members of New York City’s Grolier Club – now the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America – to bring the art of fine bookbinding to the United States, and to bind their most prized books in the tradition of European binderies. The original volume reproduced here contained Prue & I by George William Curtis (1824–1892), an American writer and reformer who was a favourite in New York society. Written during the height of the Gilded Age period, the work was a pleasantly sentimental, fancifully tender, and humorous study of life.

While today this copy of Prue & I can be found at The New York Public Library, it was once held in the personal library of William Augustus Spencer, a wealthy man with a passion for fine books. Spencer bequeathed his massive collection to The New York Public Library after seeing its new, yet-unfinished magnificent central building. Following Spencer’s tragic death as one of the Titanic passengers, the Library received his book collection and a sizable donation for establishing the Spencer Collection. This institution is dedicated to preserving material history of the illustrated word and book binding, an undertaking that we, of course, support wholeheartedly.

We hope the romantic elegance of this New York Rose design encourages your own love affair with the art of fine bookbinding.

Features :

• Smyth Sewn Binding
• Decorative printed cover paper
• FSC-certified text paper
• Threaded stitching and glue, as needed
• Cloth headbands
• Acid-free sustainable forest paper
• Flexible cover and spine