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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 A part-time student is a non-traditional student who pursues higher education, but will attend fewer class hours per semester than a full-time student, taking more years to complete their qualification; this is typically done after reaching adul ...

taught by

Douglas Cockerell Douglas Bennett Cockerell (5 August 1870 – 25 November 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 E ...

at the

London County Council The 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 ...

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a art school, school of fine arts, 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 ...

. 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 potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...

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 constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. The college offers further and higher education programmes, including postgraduate and PhD awards. ...

. They were laid off in 1901 after a coal

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

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, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, starting on 1 October 1901. They soon moved to

Vernon Place Vernon Place, also known as the Cowper-Taylor House, is a historic plantation house located near Como, Hertford County, North Carolina. It is dated to the late-1820s, and is a two-story, five-bay, T-plan, transitional Federal / Greek Revival fr ...

, 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, via Holborn, Bloomsbury, Euston and Somers Town. Kingsway ...

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

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

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 (poet), Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian language, Persian to English of a selection of quatrains (') attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dub ...

'', 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 ...

, and managed to survive through the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 ...

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, doll's house built in the early 1920s, completed in 1924, for the British queen Mary of Teck. It was designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, with contributions from many notable artists and craftsmen o ...

. After Sutcliffe suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in 1936, he entrusted the business to his nephew, Stanley Bray (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 boo ...

'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, ...

(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 is a United Kingdom-based designer, manufacturer and retailer of jewellery, silverware, home goods, leather goods, timepieces, and books. With its flagship retail store located in Mayfair, London, Asprey is a luxury retailer for ro ...

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 Street ...

. 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

References

Further reading