373

Important Silver and Jeweled Roycroft Binding

Alice Moore Hubbard (1861-1915)

Life Lessons.

East Aurora, NY: Roycrofters, 1909.
First edition, large quarto, title page printed in black, carmine and green with decorative leaf-motif emblem and borders borders, initials and typefaces designed by Dard Hunter; photogravure frontispiece of the author with a child, engraved portrait of each of the 7 biographical subjects of the work; beautifully bound in full dark green morocco, with inner morocco joints and blind-tooled turn-ins set off by green watered silk pastedowns and flyleaves; the front board featuring an intricately chased and pierced sterling silver compartment with leafy upright borders, beautifully stylized lettering with title and author at top and bottom after Dard Hunter's fonts, narrow cross pieces delicately engraved and 4 squared dark green hardstone pyramid-form cabochons at each corner; board edges softly chamfered; back board with 4 stones set in silver bases; spine neatly titled in blind with the Roycroft emblem in blind at the foot of the spine; top edge gilt and masterfully gauffered in a looping leaf motif reminiscent of the silverwork  and the leafy border used on the title page and throughout; the silver portion most likely executed by Roycroft silver- and metalsmith Karl Kipp (1881-1954), who was heavily influenced by the Vienna Secessionist movement, or by Walter Upham Jennings (1878-1963) skilled coppersmith and master bookbinder at the Roycroft Campus; the binding is in an excellent state of preservation, as is the book itself; a very unusual example of work that unites the branches of Roycrofters' various literary and book arts oeuvre; with the original price tag of the manufacturer laid in; 9 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.

Alice Hubbard, wife of Roycroft arts and crafts community, Elbert Hubbard, contributes profiles of Susan B. Anthony, David Swing, Mary Wollstonecraft, Robert Louis Stevenson, Friedrich Froebel, Henry David Thoreau and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. "There has been no attempt in Life Lessons to write biography. In the seven subjects, the influence of the man or woman upon life and the times has been the motive of the writing. Somewhat of the influence of the lives of these great people is herein recorded in plain, simple language, the expression often homely. Possibly the book's only excuse for being is that it is the record of honest thought, written on stolen time." (Quoted from Hubbard's Foreword.)

Jeweled Roycroft bindings are of the utmost rarity. This beautifully preserved example is a fitting celebration of the ethos of the designers and artists of the collective.

  • Condition: Please contact us to request a condition report:
    Devon Eastland, Senior Specialist: [email protected]
    Grace Meschery-McCormack, Cataloguer: [email protected]


    Please contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.

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October 23, 2025 10:30 AM EDT
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