Sangorski & Sutcliffe is a firm of

bookbinders A bookbinder is someone who binds books. Bookbinder may also refer to: *Alan Bookbinder (born 1956), British journalist and Master of Downing College, Cambridge *Elaine Bookbinder (born 1945), singer better known as Elkie Brooks * Roy Bookbinder ( ...

established in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1901. It is considered to be one of the most important bookbinding companies of the 20th century, famous for its luxurious jeweled bindings that used real gold and precious stones in their book covers. Sangorski & Sutcliffe was established by Francis Sangorski (1875–1912) and George Sutcliffe (1878–1943). They had met in 1896 at a bookbinding

evening class ''Evening Class'' is a 1996 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. It was adapted as the award-winning film ''Italian for Beginners'' (2000) by writer-director Lone Scherfig, who failed to formally acknowledge the source, although at the very en ...

es taught by

Douglas Cockerell Douglas Bennett Cockerell (1870 – 1945) was a British bookbinder and author. Early life and education Douglas Bennett Cockerell was born on 5 August 1870 in Clifton Cottage, Sydenham in London, England to parents Alice Elizabeth and Sydney J ...

at the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

. In 1898, Sangorski and Sutcliffe each won one of the ten annual craft scholarship awards, giving them £20 a year for three years to continue their training as

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

bookbinders. They were employed at Cockerell's own bindery, and began to teach bookbinding at

Camberwell College of Art Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgra ...

. They were laid off in 1901 after a coal

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

caused an economic slump, and they decided to set up on their own in a rented attic in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

, starting on 1 October 1901. They soon moved to Vernon Place, and then, in 1905, to

Southampton Row The A4200 is a major thoroughfare in central London. It runs between the A4 at Aldwych, to the A400 Hampstead Road/ Camden High Street, at Mornington Crescent tube station. Kingsway Kingsway is a major road in central London, desig ...

. Sangorski's elder brother, Alberto Sangorski (1862–1932), worked for the firm. He became an accomplished

calligrapher Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

and illuminator, working for Rivière from 1910. They quickly revived the art of jewelled bookbindings, decorating their sumptuous multi-colour leather book bindings with gold inlay and precious and semi-precious jewels. They were commissioned to create a most luxurious binding of the ''

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ''Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám'' is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian to English of a selection of quatrains (') attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dubbed "the Astronomer-Poet of Persia". Altho ...

'', the front cover of which was adorned with three golden peacocks with jewelled tails and surrounded by heavily tooled and gilded vines, that was sent on the ill-fated RMS ''Titanic'' in 1912. The book, known as the Great Omar, sank with the ship and has not been recovered. Shortly afterwards, Sangorski drowned. Sutcliffe continued the firm, which became recognised as one of the leading bookbinders in London. The bindery moved to

Poland Street Poland Street is a street in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, London. It runs from Oxford Street in the north to Broadwick Street in the south. It was named after the "King of Poland" pub, which was renamed in honour of Poland's K ...

, and managed to survive through the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and post-war austerity. In this period, it undertook work for the

Ashendene Press The Ashendene Press was a small private press founded by St John Hornby (1867–1946). It operated from 1895 to 1915 in Chelsea, London and was revived after the war in 1920. The press closed in 1935. Its peers included the Kelmscott Press and t ...

Golden Cockerel Press The Golden Cockerel Press was an English fine press operating between 1920 and 1961. History The private press made handmade limited editions of classic works. The type was hand-set and the books were printed on handmade paper, and sometimes ...

and the J. & E. Bumpus bookshop. It also created miniature books for

Queen Mary's Dolls' House Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a dollhouse built in the early 1920s, completed in 1924, for Queen Mary, the wife of King George V. It was designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, with contributions from many notable artists and craftsmen of the ...

. After Sutcliffe suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in 1936, he entrusted the business to his nephew,

Stanley Bray Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

(1907–1995), who had worked for his uncle since 1926. The company merged with HT Woods in 1939, bringing Kenneth Hobson to the firm. He introduced a more modern style of binding. Bray inherited the company on Sutcliffe's death. The firm merged again in 1988, joining with

Zaehnsdorf Joseph Zaehnsdorf (27 February 1816 – 7 November 1886), was a bookbinder. Zaehnsdorf was the son of Gottlieb Zaehnsdorf, of Pesth in Austria-Hungary, where he was born and educated. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to Herr Knipe, a book ...

's bindery in

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, a ...

(established by

Joseph Zaehnsdorf Joseph Zaehnsdorf (27 February 1816 – 7 November 1886), was a bookbinder. Zaehnsdorf was the son of Gottlieb Zaehnsdorf, of Pesth in Austria-Hungary, where he was born and educated. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to Herr Knipe, a bookb ...

in 1842). The combined business was bought by

Asprey Asprey International Limited, formerly Asprey & Garrard Limited, is a United Kingdom-based designer, manufacturer and retailer of jewellery, silverware, home goods, leather goods, timepieces and a retailer of books. Asprey's flagship re ...

in 1985 and renamed SSZ Limited. Shepherds, a bookbinding company, bought the company from Asprey in 1998, and revived the Sangorski & Sutcliffe name. The bindery recently moved from its premises in Bermondsey to

Rochester Row Rochester Row is a street in the City of Westminster in London that runs between Greycoat Place in the north and Vauxhall Bridge Road in the south. It is joined by Greycoat Street, Rochester Street, Vincent Square, Emery Hill Street, Vane Str ...

. A second copy of the Omar Khayyam was bound as World War II broke out and this was placed in a bank safe vault for safe keeping, but enemy bombing destroyed the vault and the second copy. Stanley Bray after his retirement made a third version of the binding using the original design, this is now in the British Library.

References

*http://www.bookbinding.co.uk/History.htm *http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituarystanley-bray-1322465.html Obituary of Stanley Bray, 5 January 1996 *http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00m0rb1
Alberto Sangorski, Illuminated, Morte De Arthur, Prayers by Robert Louis Stevenson.

References

Further reading