[WOMAN BOOKBINDER]. Le Roi Dagobert. Illustrations et gravures a l'eau-forte par Leon Lebegue

Paris: Librairie des Amateurs, F. Ferroud, 1911. Very good. 8vo. [iv], 25, [3] pp., engraved color-printed frontispiece, 6 color-printed vignettes, and 5 color-printed "insular" initials in the text. Contemporary red niger morocco, lower turn-in with gilt pallet-stamp "M. Marshall" (binding refurbished), upper cover with the monogram, crest and motto of the first owner Lily E.C. Routh, five raised bands on spine, title and date lettered in gilt in the second and sixth compartments, pale green and pink marbled pastedowns and endpapers, original printed wrappers bound in, t.e.g. With the large Pre-Raphaelite bookplate of Lily E.C. Routh pasted (slightly askew) on the front free endleaf. A BINDING OF RESTRAINED ELEGANCE BY MAUD MARSHALL, MEMBER OF THE GUILD OF WOMEN BINDERS, FOR LILY ROUTH, COLLECTOR OF FRENCH ILLUSTRATED BOOKS AND PATRON OF THE GUILD.

The name "M. Marshall" was known to Marianne Tidcombe (Women Bookbinders 1880-1920, pp. 171-2), who provided a very good preliminary assessment of "Miss" Marshall's career, noting her membership in the Guild of Women Binders, and that she was a binder and teacher, first in Bloomsbury Square (where Sangorski and Sutcliffe had their first bindery) and then in Denmark Street (where Cockerell had his first studio). However, it was not until 2024 that "M. Marshall" was positively identified as Emily Maud Marshall, thanks to the heroic research by Philippa Marks of the British Library published in her "Untold Lives" blog (17 Dec 2024):

"In careers articles and exhibition reviews, women binders are often referred to as 'Miss' plus surname. Miss M. Marshall, the binder of Library's newly acquired copy of William Morris's Poems (1908) has proved difficult to research, but we can reveal her identity." Emily Maud Marshall was born in 1869 in Yokohama. Based in London during the first decade of the 20th century, she worked as a bookbinder in collaboration with Edith Gedye. Their binding styles were influenced by William Morris and T.J. Cobden-Sanderson's Arts and Crafts movement (as were many contemporary hand binders) but it is not known who taught them. The pair exhibited their bindings at Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society shows in 1903 and 1906. From 1904 to 1907, the bookseller Bain helped them sell their work. Newspaper articles indicate that they submitted their bindings to many amateur and professional competitions, and they regularly received first prizes, certificates and honorable mentions.

Marshall contributed a noteworthy article on bookbinding in the Fingerpost "Guide to the Professions and Occupations of Educated Women" (1906). She writes: "Of the many careers opened of late years to women, bookbinding is perhaps the one most attractive in point of interest, combining as it does physical, mental and artistic effort. Whether it is a lucrative career must depend entirely upon the individual." A career in artistic bookbinding could certainly be an uphill struggle for women. Marshall and Gedye also offered lessons in bookbinding, which not only provided an increased income stream for the business but also gave experience to those not otherwise able to learn the craft (NB: women were not usually eligible for apprenticeships at this time). Marshall herself offered three-, six- and twelve-month courses of instruction.

In 1910 it would appear that the pair had begun to work independently: Gedye moved to Bristol while Marshall continued to rent business premises in London. By 1921, Census records show Marshall in Ware, Hertfordshire, "not occupied for a living." She died in Aldingbourne, Sussex, in 1940.

"LE ROI DAGOBERT" (1911): A novella by Gebhart inspired by the little-known 7th-century (!) King of the Franks. It was illustrated in the neo-Medieval style by Leon Lebegue (1863-1944), one of the finest French etchers of the early 20th century. He was much sought after by publishers of fine, limited illustrated editions, as is attested by his work for Huysmans, De Musset, Anatole France, Balzac, Theodore de Banville, Louys, and others. The Roi Dagobert offered here was limited to 300 copies only; this is number 261 on Hollande, numbered and initialled by the publisher F. Ferroud.

PROVENANCE: Lily E.C. Routh (her monogram and motto on upper cover ("Incorrupta fides"; her bookplate on front free endleaf designed by E.M. Blake, 1907) -- Forum Auctions, London (1/15/26, group lot 126) -- John Robertshaw.

§ Luc Monod, Manuel de l'amateur de livres illustrés modernes, no. 5228. Mahe, Répertoire des éditons de luxe, II, col. 188.