Courtesy of the Richard Blacher Collection

Life Lessons 1909	Woman's Work 1908
The Rubaiyat 1904 #24 of 100 Exhibited in Head, Heart and Hand.
Virginibus Puerisque 1903

Pictures and commentary courtesy of Dick Blacher.

Best Modeled Leather Bindings

Only a small number of the modeled leather bindings were signed. Therefore, I feel it would be illustrative to categorize a few as (the Sack/Rago system) “Good, Better, Best.” The majority of the modeled leather bindings are usually found on regular production editions. (i.e., non-limited).

Life Lessons

by Alice Hubbard, 1909
Note: Probably bound by Frederick Kranz, who specialized in polished leather bindings. I particularly admire its 3-dimensional quality, and its generally  “Finished” appearance.
Note: Priced at $40.00 in a 1910 Roycroft catalogue and $100.00 in a 1927 catalogue.

Woman's Work

by Alice Hubbard, 1908
Note: The design of this cover perfectly reflects and enhances the design motif created for the book by Dard Hunter.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

#24 of 100 Copies, 1904
Note: Bound by Frederick Kranz, the two-toned effect with shading, represents the epitome of the modeler's art.
Note: Exhibited in “Head, Heart and Hand.”

Virginibus Puerisque

by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1903
Note: Referred to (by some) as “Buffalo Nouveau,” this style of modeling is, in my opinion, the finest produced by the Roycroft; Masterfully executed and beautifully realized.

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