Percival Serle, 1871-1951. Biographer, Bibliographer, Anthologist and Art Curator. A Memoir
Deakin, Officina Brindabella [Brindabella Press], 1988.
Octavo, 64 pages plus a frontispiece portrait.
Quarter contrasting grey and black morocco, with one word ('Serle') in fine print across the spine, and a thin blind rule in line with it acoss both covers, broken only by a tiny dash of gilt near the front leading edge; top edge now grey; in very fine condition, complete with the unlettered light grey dustwrapper. This is a unique exhibition binding by Ron Eadie (unsigned, but we purchased it direct from the binder himself many years ago). The standard issue, hand-bound by Helen Wadlington, is in quarter cloth and papered boards with a paper title-label on the spine.
The fifteenth book of the Brindabella Press; the standard issue comprised 350 numbered copies signed by the author (Percival Serle's son). This copy is signed but unnumbered; instead, the words 'Exhibition binding' are inserted in pencil, almost certainly by Alec Bolton. Ron Eadie had been commissioned to do the binding on the previous Brindabella Press publication, 'Smiling in English, Smoking in French', travel poems by Geoff Page. Alec Bolton's comment about Page's work, quoted in 'A Licence to Print. Alec Bolton and the Brindabella Press', compiled by Michael Richards in 1993, is worth repeating: 'A light-hearted book, with a clever and entertaining binding that reflected its text'. The latter remark applies even more to this binding, which was created for an invitation exhibition, 'Fine Books Fine Bindings', organized by the Crafts Council of the ACT for display at the ANU Library in March 1989 and the State Library of NSW in April and May 1989. Fellow exhibitors included Hugo Peller, Robin Tait and Helen Wadlington. The set piece was the text of this Brindabella Press publication; Ron Eadie's binding, with its minimal blind tooling and touch of gilt led a contemporary reviewer to remark that 'It speaks eloquently of Percival Serle and perfectly reflects the biography it contains'.
Item #110192
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