Kyriss (Ernst), 1881-1974

(25 cm), 40 pp., 16 plates. Bound in collector’s blue cloth. - A summary and statistical survey of the author’s Verzierte Gotische Einbände (1951-1958), illustrating the commonest types of tool and roll, and typical designs of bindings from Nuremberg, Augsburg, Erfurt, Cologne, Leipzig and Vienna. As the title implies, it also covers the pre-Romanesque and Romanesque bindings, and the late Gothic bindings of the Netherlands, France, England, Italy and Spain, illustrating one example from each of the first four countries; “But its real value lies in its masterly conclusions on the decorated Gothic bindings of the German-speaking countries on which Dr Kyriss is the supreme authority” (from a review by H.M. Nixon, in The Book Collector, Summer 1958, pp.196-199). ¶ Ownership inscription on endpaper of the bookbinding historian William Smith Mitchell (1908-1982), dated February 1958; his annotations in pencil in margins. Loosely inserted is an offprint of Mitchell’s review of the book (for The Library, volume 13, 1958, pp.213-214). Excellent copy.