Cult of Tarot Forum

Late Victorian - Early Edwardian era bookbinders of great renown:

https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/05/30 ... sutcliffe/

http://www.booktryst.com/2010/06/family ... sures.html

excerpt:

Sangorski & Sutcliffe bindings were very aristocratic indeed, using costly and rare skins and fabulous jewels. The artistry, as can be seen here, was exquisite: thousands of applications of gold, countless inlays of tiny pieces of morocco, painstaking setting of gemstones, all in stunning designs created by the partners. Around 1905, Francis Sangorski's older brother, Alberto, grew tired of his prosaic position as secretary to a goldsmith and took up the art of calligraphy, for which he turned out to have considerable talent. He began creating illuminated manuscripts, in the tradition of the medieval artisans so admired by the Arts and Crafts movement.

I never knew about this legendary firm, and stumbled upon knowledge of its existence by accident, via one of those online banner ads or something, not that I could ever afford such luxury.
These editions sell for tens of thousand of dollars (maybe even more) at Christies and are in the collections of important museums.

However, it's always fun to learn about something new, especially when it's as delightful as this.
I'm sure there are artists here who are already familiar with this firm, which is still in operation.
This certainly makes for a nice diversion from the incessant gloomy news.

An extensive Google search will reveal many other images of their sumptuous creations.

Imagine modern Tarot cards crafted in this manner LOL

The Visconti cards never looked this good, but then again, they didn't have the same level of skill and technical expertise back then.

Thanks for the fascinating link to the bookbinding process. It's heartening to know that modern machines can't reproduce the human skills needed for work of this quality.

Here's a wiki link to Elihu Vedder, who illustrated the third beautiful book, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

Wow! These are Beautiful! Thanks fir sharing!

p.s 1st one would make awesome deck box!^^ Book boxes my fav DiY idea!^^ lol