The Tempest.

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Creator

William Shakespeare.

Title

The Tempest.

Publisher

Canton, NY: Caliban Press,

Date

2001.

Description

Designer binding by George Kirkpatrick. Edition of 125.

This copy of The Tempest is housed in an extraordinary commission binding by my good friend George Kirkpatrick. But it is the story of how the binding came to be that makes it most special for me.

In 2012, George had a major stroke and was told that he would never work again. To motivate him to overcome this, I sent him the sheets of The Tempest (the text is from the 1623 First Folio) and asked him to bind them and enter it in an upcoming international designer binding competition. He refused, but I persisted, and he eventually conceded.

When I saw the wonderful binding, I grew alarmed because the terms of the competition gave Gordon Getty the right to buy the first- and second-prize winners. So I sent George a second set of the sheets to create an identical binding, except for a personal notation on the rear doublure made of leather. George's binding won one of the third-prize distinguished book awards (he should have won the first prize) and he has now resumed his career as a master designer binder.

Source

Neale M. Albert