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<b>Bonhams:</b> MANDELSHTAM, OSIP. 1891-1938. Autograph Manuscript, 2 pp, [Petersburg,] January 1913, entitled

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Gilding the Lilly Revisited: New book a market-maker for US decorative bindings - By Susan Halas Richard Minsky (photo by Richard Grosbard). By Susan Halas One of the oldest wisdoms of the antiquarian trade is: "If it was considered beautiful once, it will be considered beautiful again." The problem is how long do you have to wait? Some older folks remember the 1950s when the public cleared out Arts & Crafts or Mission style objects by the truckload as taste shifted to bolder modern looks and colors. That cycle held true for books too: many of the limp leather bindings and ornately foiled boards of the late 19th century languished in obscurity or were unceremoniously shoveled off to the Goodwill. As the 20th century passed the decorative binding was replaced by the more pedestrian dust jacket as the outside face of the book. Though some antiquarian specialists saved these earlier volumes for their distinctive style and decorative appeal, for nearly a hundred years they were mostly ignored. Comes now Richard Minsky And all that's about to change. AE Monthly readers may know Minsky for his affiliation with the non-profit NYC based Center for Book Arts, or they have heard of him as Minsky the book artist extraordinaire whose papers were recently acquired by Yale. Then there's Minsky the writer, designer, curator, scholar, lecturer, or developer of book related exhibits, leading to Minsky the bookseller who recently hosted three important and distinctive shows of decorative bindings at his own gallery in Stockport, NY. The three shows together displayed of about 1,100 volumes. Portions of the first two exhibits are still on view at his web site www.minsky.com, and the third is up through May 15 in Stockport by appointment, and can also be seen in part on the web. However, with the publication of his new book, THE ART OF AMERICAN BOOK COVERS 1875-1930, (Braziller 2010 ISBN 978-0-8076-1602-4 - Link), it wouldn't be surprising if "Minsky the market-maker" can soon be added to the list. You can buy this new book in a variety of formats, some of them with hefty price tags. But for most readers the first trade edition, which sells for $35 and has a press run of 2,000, is a winner. This lovely volume with bright gold cover illustrates 150 superb examples of decorative bindings of the period. It includes a bibliography, as well as an illustrated check list of notable designers and their marks/monograms. The text is brief but instructive and covers some of the people, companies, artistic points and distinctions that may have escaped popular notice till now. It's highly unlikely that these niceties will be considered obscure much longer. That's because Minsky puts the era into a new context and makes it much easier for the average non-specialist to understand the creative high points.
Gilding the Lilly Revisited: New book a market-maker for US decorative bindings - By Susan Halas Minsky's Art of American Book Covers 1875-1931. Future values of Decorative Bindings It can't hurt future values that he has placed two of his three exhibits with very spiffy university libraries at undisclosed prices and that the third is now being shopped privately by his "subscribers". But we think this title will sell out primarily because it fills a void we didn't know existed. In historical terms none of these books is that old, but he asserts that some of his picks -- beautiful examples of traditional workmanship and an older esthetic -- are no longer so easy to find. "It's not even 10 or 15 years ago many of these books were $5 or less," Minsky says, commenting on current values for books of this era. "Very few people were interested in book cover art. Even five years ago the market for these was fairly quiet. I bought a gorgeous copy of Calderon's Prisoner, a Margaret Armstrong cover, for $40 on Abebooks (shown on p. 18). Looking today there are three copies listed, $100 to $200, with the best one sunned, soiled, rubbed and bumped. "Many of the books in my first exhibition have totally disappeared from the online listings and have not been seen at auction or on eBay for years." "Condition is important when acquiring books for their cover art," he continues, "and finding pristine copies, or even reasonably nice ones, has become difficult. None of today's listed copies of the 1904 Florence Lundborg design on Yosemite Legends is in as fine condition as the one I got five years ago for $100 (Minsky. 83), and the best available is offered at $375." "Yet," he says, "there are still many bargains to be found, even in the under $30 range, just by keeping your eyes open. Compared to other art forms the prices of original book cover art are still incredibly low." The book as "object It also doesn't hurt the case for rising values that a great deal of today's antiquarian bookseller rhetoric has shifted from the book as a carrier of text/content/information to a renewed interest in the book as an "object." So be it - most of these eye-catching covers certainly look trendy now. It may be stretching it to call it the return of the gilded lily, but Minsky definitely intrigues the viewer with different combinations of foils, stamps, dies, sculptural effects, split fountains and all the rest. This repertoire has been with us for a very long time, but all of it looks new, beautiful, exciting, and dare we say undervalued in the context of his new book. What could be more of a trendy object than a book that sparkles in your hand - and takes on a different hue depending on how the sun hits the gold leaf? There are lots of antique examples of this kind of work in the pages of the new book. Surprisingly, the very vivid gold leaf design on its cover is uncredited. Asked about its origin the author says, "I adapted it from the unsigned, unattributed cover of an undated Crowell edition of The Abbé Daniel by Theuriet (copyright 1884, but a later printing) that was in my first exhibition. It was stamped in flat (bright) gold. What I did to the design, besides removing the border and reshaping it to fit this cover, was add textures to the gold so parts of the design would light up or go dark as the viewing angle or the light changed."
Gilding the Lilly Revisited: New book a market-maker for US decorative bindings - By Susan Halas Hazenplug binding of Kipling's The Jungle Book. Older esthetic combined with writer of lasting value While many of the books Minsky shows have texts that probably won't ever find an audience again, others are very nice combinations of the older binding esthetic with an author of lasting value. One example, Shadowings by Lafcadio Hearn (Minsky 13), is a good example. Here the text by an American author writing about things Japanese is bound in a beautiful dark blue cloth overprinted in black showing water lilies in an Asian style. The whole effect with its glimmers of twilight is gilt stamped in a wrap around design. It's stunning to put it mildly. An equally appealing combination of subject and interpretive binding is the 1913 edition of the Jungle Book by Kipling, illustrated by M&E Detmold, published by the Century Company with binding design by Frank Hazenplug which Minsky terms "a remarkable design in which the gold seems to light up the forest, like sunlight filtering through the trees" (Minsky 30). He also shows many examples of effective use of silhouettes and bold patterning, as well as numerous floral inspired motifs and designs from nature done as all over patterns. One particularly nice set of illustrations groups books by Margaret Armstrong, one of the most talented and best known designers of the period. She created a series of covers for a dozen books by Henry Van Dyke published between 1901 and 1926. All the covers are beautiful, inventive and different, yet clearly the work of the same gifted imagination. Bitten by the decorative binding bug If AE readers are anything like this writer, the first step will be to read the book and enjoy the variety and insights presented by the author. But don't be surprised if the very next instant you are browsing the auction records and different book bases looking for inexpensive copies of some of the beauties, hoping to get a bargain for your own collection. There's a general bibliography at the end. For those who want to read more, the author recommends Allen and Gullans, Decorated Cloth in America as a good general introduction adding, "My suggestion for anyone starting out is go with your gut. If you love looking at it, get it. It will give you pleasure." Additional Links Here are a few interesting links related to Minsky and period American bindings. Interview with Minsky aimed at art students and prospective book artists - link. Here's a stunning website displaying thousands of photos of the work of Philadelphia publisher Henry Altemus. This firm was a leader in the field of decorative bindings and also produced many series books. This great reference site is a labor of love by Texas collector Cary Sternick - link. Publishers Bindings online at the University of Alabama Library - link. Click the link for Publisher's Bindings on the right hand side under "Find." Writer Susan Halas welcomes your comments: she can be reached at halas@hawaii.rr.com

Gilding the Lilly Revisited: New book a market-maker for US decorative bindings

- By Susan Halas

Richard Minsky (photo by Richard Grosbard).

By Susan Halas

One of the oldest wisdoms of the antiquarian trade is: "If it was considered beautiful once, it will be considered beautiful again." The problem is how long do you have to wait?

Some older folks remember the 1950s when the public cleared out Arts & Crafts or Mission style objects by the truckload as taste shifted to bolder modern looks and colors. That cycle held true for books too: many of the limp leather bindings and ornately foiled boards of the late 19th century languished in obscurity or were unceremoniously shoveled off to the Goodwill. As the 20th century passed the decorative binding was replaced by the more pedestrian dust jacket as the outside face of the book. Though some antiquarian specialists saved these earlier volumes for their distinctive style and decorative appeal, for nearly a hundred years they were mostly ignored.

Comes now Richard Minsky
And all that's about to change.

AE Monthly readers may know Minsky for his affiliation with the non-profit NYC based Center for Book Arts, or they have heard of him as Minsky the book artist extraordinaire whose papers were recently acquired by Yale. Then there's Minsky the writer, designer, curator, scholar, lecturer, or developer of book related exhibits, leading to Minsky the bookseller who recently hosted three important and distinctive shows of decorative bindings at his own gallery in Stockport, NY. The three shows together displayed of about 1,100 volumes. Portions of the first two exhibits are still on view at his web site www.minsky.com, and the third is up through May 15 in Stockport by appointment, and can also be seen in part on the web.

However, with the publication of his new book, THE ART OF AMERICAN BOOK COVERS 1875-1930, (Braziller 2010 ISBN 978-0-8076-1602-4 - Link), it wouldn't be surprising if "Minsky the market-maker" can soon be added to the list.

You can buy this new book in a variety of formats, some of them with hefty price tags. But for most readers the first trade edition, which sells for $35 and has a press run of 2,000, is a winner. This lovely volume with bright gold cover illustrates 150 superb examples of decorative bindings of the period. It includes a bibliography, as well as an illustrated check list of notable designers and their marks/monograms. The text is brief but instructive and covers some of the people, companies, artistic points and distinctions that may have escaped popular notice till now.

It's highly unlikely that these niceties will be considered obscure much longer. That's because Minsky puts the era into a new context and makes it much easier for the average non-specialist to understand the creative high points.

Gilding the Lilly Revisited: New book a market-maker for US decorative bindings

- By Susan Halas

Minsky's Art of American Book Covers 1875-1931.

Future values of Decorative Bindings
It can't hurt future values that he has placed two of his three exhibits with very spiffy university libraries at undisclosed prices and that the third is now being shopped privately by his "subscribers". But we think this title will sell out primarily because it fills a void we didn't know existed.

In historical terms none of these books is that old, but he asserts that some of his picks -- beautiful examples of traditional workmanship and an older esthetic -- are no longer so easy to find.

"It's not even 10 or 15 years ago many of these books were $5 or less," Minsky says, commenting on current values for books of this era. "Very few people were interested in book cover art. Even five years ago the market for these was fairly quiet. I bought a gorgeous copy of Calderon's Prisoner, a Margaret Armstrong cover, for $40 on Abebooks (shown on p. 18). Looking today there are three copies listed, $100 to $200, with the best one sunned, soiled, rubbed and bumped. "Many of the books in my first exhibition have totally disappeared from the online listings and have not been seen at auction or on eBay for years."

"Condition is important when acquiring books for their cover art," he continues, "and finding pristine copies, or even reasonably nice ones, has become difficult. None of today's listed copies of the 1904 Florence Lundborg design on Yosemite Legends is in as fine condition as the one I got five years ago for $100 (Minsky. 83), and the best available is offered at $375."

"Yet," he says, "there are still many bargains to be found, even in the under $30 range, just by keeping your eyes open. Compared to other art forms the prices of original book cover art are still incredibly low."

The book as "object
It also doesn't hurt the case for rising values that a great deal of today's antiquarian bookseller rhetoric has shifted from the book as a carrier of text/content/information to a renewed interest in the book as an "object."

So be it - most of these eye-catching covers certainly look trendy now. It may be stretching it to call it the return of the gilded lily, but Minsky definitely intrigues the viewer with different combinations of foils, stamps, dies, sculptural effects, split fountains and all the rest. This repertoire has been with us for a very long time, but all of it looks new, beautiful, exciting, and dare we say undervalued in the context of his new book.

What could be more of a trendy object than a book that sparkles in your hand - and takes on a different hue depending on how the sun hits the gold leaf? There are lots of antique examples of this kind of work in the pages of the new book. Surprisingly, the very vivid gold leaf design on its cover is uncredited.

Asked about its origin the author says, "I adapted it from the unsigned, unattributed cover of an undated Crowell edition of The Abbé Daniel by Theuriet (copyright 1884, but a later printing) that was in my first exhibition. It was stamped in flat (bright) gold. What I did to the design, besides removing the border and reshaping it to fit this cover, was add textures to the gold so parts of the design would light up or go dark as the viewing angle or the light changed."

Gilding the Lilly Revisited: New book a market-maker for US decorative bindings

- By Susan Halas

Hazenplug binding of Kipling's The Jungle Book.

Older esthetic combined with writer of lasting value
While many of the books Minsky shows have texts that probably won't ever find an audience again, others are very nice combinations of the older binding esthetic with an author of lasting value. One example, Shadowings by Lafcadio Hearn (Minsky 13), is a good example. Here the text by an American author writing about things Japanese is bound in a beautiful dark blue cloth overprinted in black showing water lilies in an Asian style. The whole effect with its glimmers of twilight is gilt stamped in a wrap around design. It's stunning to put it mildly.

An equally appealing combination of subject and interpretive binding is the 1913 edition of the Jungle Book by Kipling, illustrated by M&E Detmold, published by the Century Company with binding design by Frank Hazenplug which Minsky terms "a remarkable design in which the gold seems to light up the forest, like sunlight filtering through the trees" (Minsky 30). He also shows many examples of effective use of silhouettes and bold patterning, as well as numerous floral inspired motifs and designs from nature done as all over patterns.

One particularly nice set of illustrations groups books by Margaret Armstrong, one of the most talented and best known designers of the period. She created a series of covers for a dozen books by Henry Van Dyke published between 1901 and 1926. All the covers are beautiful, inventive and different, yet clearly the work of the same gifted imagination.

Bitten by the decorative binding bug
If AE readers are anything like this writer, the first step will be to read the book and enjoy the variety and insights presented by the author. But don't be surprised if the very next instant you are browsing the auction records and different book bases looking for inexpensive copies of some of the beauties, hoping to get a bargain for your own collection.

There's a general bibliography at the end. For those who want to read more, the author recommends Allen and Gullans, Decorated Cloth in America as a good general introduction adding, "My suggestion for anyone starting out is go with your gut. If you love looking at it, get it. It will give you pleasure."

Additional Links
Here are a few interesting links related to Minsky and period American bindings.

Interview with Minsky aimed at art students and prospective book artists - link.

Here's a stunning website displaying thousands of photos of the work of Philadelphia publisher Henry Altemus. This firm was a leader in the field of decorative bindings and also produced many series books. This great reference site is a labor of love by Texas collector Cary Sternick - link.

Publishers Bindings online at the University of Alabama Library - link. Click the link for Publisher's Bindings on the right hand side under "Find."

Writer Susan Halas welcomes your comments: she can be reached at halas@hawaii.rr.com