From about 2000 to 2007 I built up a collection of marbled and hand printed endpapers with the intention of using them when I rebound books. I shall not be able to do the binding, but the papers are so beautiful I want to record them. The three block-printed sheets were purchased in Venice, at the Legatoria Piazzesi. These are expensive and still available at €38.90 each.
Many were purchased via the internet from Florence, from Florentia Libris at Bagno a Ripoli (where my father lived as a soldier for several months towards the end of the Italian Campaign in World War Two), and individually signed by the craftsperson who created each unique piece. These are quite reasonable, at €5 a sheet, and very intricate and extremely beautiful. There is a video (silent) available here.
Three are definitely English, by Cockerell of Cambridge, and dated 1969. This is a film made in 1970 of the Cockerell manufactory. The business was closed and its contents dispersed in 1990. Cockerell papers are now rare and valuable.
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| A Cockerell of Grantchester paper. |
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Stunning. No wonder you collected such beautiful papers.
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