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Lowlands AwayAdrian Henri, Illustrated by Adrian Henri
Bath, UK. Old School Press, 2001, No. 254 of 450 27 x 20 x 1.4 cm This book of ten poems as texts written for an oratorio by Richard Gordon-Smith, and illustrated with eight images, reproduced from Adrian's vibrant pastels. These drawings were the last that Adrian made, in hospital, before his death at the beginning of 2001. It tells the story of the loss at sea of the Thames and Medway barge Cynthia, commanded by the composer's great-grandfather, a century before in 1896, and of his last words to his wife, cast into the sea in a bottle and subsequently forwarded to her. Full leather binding with laced-in boards. Silk endbands and textured paper paste-downs and fly leaves Bound in oiled pullup veg tanned leather in a color reminiscent of the sea. Inlays and onlays of wood, paper and leather create a debris field of the barge destroyed by the sea. Bound 2022. This was the set book for the 50th anniversary exhibition of The Hand Bookbinders of California. |