DE VITA ET MORIBUS IULII AGRICOLAE LIBER

Hammersmith: Doves Press, 1900. ONE OF 225 COPIES on paper (and five copies on vellum). 233 x 167 mm. (9 1/4 x 6 5/8"). 2 p.l. (first blank), xxxii pp., [1] leaf.Edited by J. W. Mackail.
Original limp vellum by the Doves Bindery (stamp-signed on rear pastedown), flat spine with gilt titling. In (original?) vellum-lipped slipcase lined with chamois. Front pastedown with armorial ex-libris of W. H. E. Baron van der Borch van Verwolde and with pencilled bibliographical note in German. Tidcombe DP-1; Tomkinson, p. 52. ◆Spine a little dust-soiled, naturally occurring variations in the grain of the vellum, faint spot of foxing to title page, otherwise a very fine copy, the slipcase preventing the usual rumpling or splaying to the vellum boards, and the text quite clean, fresh, and bright.

This beautifully preserved volume represents the beginning of the work undertaken by the visionary and fanatical Cobden-Sanderson at his Doves Press. The elegant simplicity that would characterize all Doves books is apparent from the first page here. In contrast to William Morris' proclivity toward the Baroque, T. J. Cobden-Sanderson (1840-1922) and his partner Emery Walker (1851-1933) demonstrated that unadorned printing with plain type (designed by Walker), well set and with good margins, could produce notable work. The partners were inspired by the example of the Kelmscott Press, but went their own way, producing chaste and meticulous books that inspire in their simplicity. Our copy was once owned by Dutch poet, bibliophile, publisher, and resistance fighter Emile van der Borch van Verwolde (1910-43), who began collecting finely printed books while still a student. He later worked with Dutch publisher and typographer Alexandre Stols to produce bibliophile editions of works by Rimbaud, Baudelaire, and Swinburne, selling a portion of his library through antiquarian bookseller Menno Hertzberger to fund the projects. His work as an intelligence officer for the Dutch resistance was betrayed to the German occupiers in 1943, and he was executed as a spy..