Library gains book bound in tragedy

From The Age http://www.theage.com.au/

Library gains book bound in tragedy
By Maev Kennedy
London
July 8, 2005

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The British Library has just been presented with a legendary book, regarded
by many bookbinders as one of the greatest modern bindings in the world -
but haunted by tragedy and disaster.

The gold leaf blazing and light flashing from hundreds of gemstones studding
the tails of the peacocks on the cover defy the extraordinary history of the
Sangorski special edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Edward
Fitzgerald's translation of the great Persian poem of love, life and loss.

The original copy, often referred to as The Book Wonderful or The Great
Omar, took two years to make, and sank with the Titanic in 1912. Its
creator, Francis Sangorski, drowned in a bathing accident six weeks later.
The second copy took Stanley Bray six years to recreate from Sangorski's
original drawings, and was destroyed in the London Blitz.

The third copy took Mr Bray more than 40 years, on and off, to make and when
he completed it in 1989 he estimated he had put 4000 hours into it. He lent
it to the British Library before his death in 1995, and after the death last
year of his widow, Irene, his family decided to present it to the library
with the original drawings and his bookbinding tools.

Sangorski determined to make a book "to astonish the world" and spent months
on the designs, which required 5000 pieces of inlaid leather, ivory, silver
and ebony, 600 sheets of 22-carat gold leaf, and 1052 garnets, turquoises,
topazes, olivines and an emerald. The book was a legend in bookbinding
circles long before he finished it.

When asked about the book's tragic history soon before his death, Bray said:
"I am not in the least bit superstitious - even though they do say that the
peacock is a symbol of disaster."

"It is an absolutely astonishing thing, and we are thrilled to have it,"
said Philippa Marks, the library's curator of bookbinding. "Some of our
wonderful books need an academic understanding, but you can't look at this
and not go 'wow!' "

- Guardian

"Nobody" wrote in message
. net...
From The Age http://www.theage.com.au/

Library gains book bound in tragedy
By Maev Kennedy
London
July 8, 2005

Email to a friend Printer format
The British Library has just been presented with a legendary book,
regarded by many bookbinders as one of the greatest modern bindings in the
world - but haunted by tragedy and disaster.

The gold leaf blazing and light flashing from hundreds of gemstones
studding the tails of the peacocks on the cover defy the extraordinary
history of the Sangorski special edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam,
Edward Fitzgerald's translation of the great Persian poem of love, life
and loss.

The original copy, often referred to as The Book Wonderful or The Great
Omar, took two years to make, and sank with the Titanic in 1912. Its
creator, Francis Sangorski, drowned in a bathing accident six weeks later.
The second copy took Stanley Bray six years to recreate from Sangorski's
original drawings, and was destroyed in the London Blitz.

The third copy took Mr Bray more than 40 years, on and off, to make and
when he completed it in 1989 he estimated he had put 4000 hours into it.
He lent it to the British Library before his death in 1995, and after the
death last year of his widow, Irene, his family decided to present it to
the library with the original drawings and his bookbinding tools.

Sangorski determined to make a book "to astonish the world" and spent
months on the designs, which required 5000 pieces of inlaid leather,
ivory, silver and ebony, 600 sheets of 22-carat gold leaf, and 1052
garnets, turquoises, topazes, olivines and an emerald. The book was a
legend in bookbinding circles long before he finished it.

When asked about the book's tragic history soon before his death, Bray
said: "I am not in the least bit superstitious - even though they do say
that the peacock is a symbol of disaster."

"It is an absolutely astonishing thing, and we are thrilled to have it,"
said Philippa Marks, the library's curator of bookbinding. "Some of our
wonderful books need an academic understanding, but you can't look at this
and not go 'wow!' "

- Guardian




Here is a link to a poster of the book.

http://www.bookbinding.co.uk/index.p...d=23&Itemid=47

Rich

From The Age http://www.theage.com.au/

Library gains book bound in tragedy
By Maev Kennedy
London
July 8, 2005

Email to a friend Printer format
The British Library has just been presented with a legendary book, regarded
by many bookbinders as one of the greatest modern bindings in the world -
but haunted by tragedy and disaster.

The gold leaf blazing and light flashing from hundreds of gemstones studding
the tails of the peacocks on the cover defy the extraordinary history of the
Sangorski special edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Edward
Fitzgerald's translation of the great Persian poem of love, life and loss.

The original copy, often referred to as The Book Wonderful or The Great
Omar, took two years to make, and sank with the Titanic in 1912. Its
creator, Francis Sangorski, drowned in a bathing accident six weeks later.
The second copy took Stanley Bray six years to recreate from Sangorski's
original drawings, and was destroyed in the London Blitz.

The third copy took Mr Bray more than 40 years, on and off, to make and when
he completed it in 1989 he estimated he had put 4000 hours into it. He lent
it to the British Library before his death in 1995, and after the death last
year of his widow, Irene, his family decided to present it to the library
with the original drawings and his bookbinding tools.

Sangorski determined to make a book "to astonish the world" and spent months
on the designs, which required 5000 pieces of inlaid leather, ivory, silver
and ebony, 600 sheets of 22-carat gold leaf, and 1052 garnets, turquoises,
topazes, olivines and an emerald. The book was a legend in bookbinding
circles long before he finished it.

When asked about the book's tragic history soon before his death, Bray said:
"I am not in the least bit superstitious - even though they do say that the
peacock is a symbol of disaster."

"It is an absolutely astonishing thing, and we are thrilled to have it,"
said Philippa Marks, the library's curator of bookbinding. "Some of our
wonderful books need an academic understanding, but you can't look at this
and not go 'wow!' "

- Guardian

From Google I discover that the original publishing firm is
selling a poster of the cover of this book, based on a computer
re-creation that uses the original black and white plates,
watercolor sketches, and so on. But I can't find a picture of the
cover on the Internet. Does anyone have a link to a good, clear
color picture of this book?

From Google I discover that the original publishing firm is selling a
poster of the cover of this book, based on a computer re-creation that
uses the original black and white plates, watercolor sketches, and so on.
But I can't find a picture of the cover on the Internet. Does anyone have
a link to a good, clear color picture of this book?

Here is a link to a poster of the book.

http://www.bookbinding.co.uk/index.p...d=23&Itemid=47

Rich

From Google I discover that the original publishing firm is selling a
poster of the cover of this book, based on a computer re-creation that
uses the original black and white plates, watercolor sketches, and so on.
But I can't find a picture of the cover on the Internet. Does anyone have
a link to a good, clear color picture of this book?


Here is a link to a poster of the book.

http://www.bookbinding.co.uk/index.p...d=23&Itemid=47

Rich

Very nice! Exactly what I was searching for and couldn't find. I'm
a fan of interesting and unusual book bindings.