All around my drifting boat
In rhythmic curves the sea-birds float.
Could I but fix these perfect lines
And use them in my book designs,
To that extent my work would be
In tune with nature's harmony.—Douglas Cockerell, Paradise, N.S., 1934, as quoted by William Inglis Morse in the Chronicle, no. 220, November 1934 [source]
I discovered Douglas Cockerell(1870-1945) while browsing though the classic calligraphy text Writing & Illuminating & Lettering by Edward Johnston. Johnston refers to another classic text in the same Arts & Crafts series, Bookbinding and the Care of Books by Douglas Cockerell, originally published in 1901, but still very much in print (and available online). This is fortuitous since after watching a demonstration of book repair a few weeks ago I've wanted to pick up a book on bookbinding to learn more about it. Apparently I need look no further than Douglas Cockerell, the preeminent British bookbinder who, as the quote above shows, strove for perfection in his art, and who was responsible for binding and conserving some of world's most precious books, such as the Codex Sinaiticus (h.t. Ekthesis). I look forward to exploring this great artisan's work and words.
Fine binding ... implies that the craftsman has done his best with the best materials. It may be plain or decorated, but whatever work there is should be the best of which the craftsman is capable.
—Douglas Cockerell, "Fine Bookbinding in England," in The Art of the Book (1914)
