Cosway Bindings
Ever seen a book with a Cosway binding? Here are a handful of rare and collectable books offered for sale by AbeBooks sellers featuring these stunning bindings. Cosway bindings are traditional leather bindings with miniature paintings inset into the covers. These beautiful bindings are named after Richard Cosway, the acclaimed English miniaturist portrait painter from the Regency era.
However, Cosway did not invent this style of binding. These bindings were not introduced until the early 20th century and were probably invented by the legendary bookselling firm of Henry Sotheran.
Born in Devon, Cosway was a prodigy and exhibited his first work at the age of 20 in 1762. He painted many members of the British Royal family and his subjects also included various English and French aristocrats. He married the Anglo-Italian artist Maria Hadfield and together they were the glamour couple of the Regency art world. Cosway died in 1821 but many of his miniatures can be seen in Windsor Castle.
The earliest Cosway bindings were created by Miss CB Currie who is known to have worked between 1912 and 1940 from designs by JH Stonehouse, Sotheran’s manager.
For more reading about Richard Cosway, check out Richard and Maria Cosway: A Biography by Gerald Barnett or Richard & Maria Cosway: Regency Artists of Taste and Fashion – the 143-page catalogue associated with a 1995 exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery – or even Richard Cosway RA by George C Williamson.
Examples of Cosway Bindings:
Life of Napoleon Bonaparte
William Milligan Sloane
1896, burgundy morocco; Sloane was a Princeton professor
The Prisoner of Chillon
Lord Byron
1816, bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe with portrait of a youthful Byron
The Life and Adventures of Oliver Goldsmith
John Forster
Sangorski & Sutcliffe binding with inlaid miniature portraits
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club
Charles Dickens
1873, brown morocco Bayntun binding , two portraits of Dickens
The Vicar of Wakefield (sold)
Oliver Goldsmith
1843, binding by Bayntun, full crushed red morocco leather with gilt
Vanity Fair
William Makepeace Thackeray
1848, binding by Bayntun, portrait of Thackeray behind glass
Uncle Tom's Cabin (sold)
Harriet Beecher Stowe
1852, red morocco, portraits of Stowe and scene from the novel
The Old Régime, Court, Salons & Theatres
Lady Catherine Charlotte Jackson
1880, bound by Bayntun, from the library of W. A. Foyle
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (sold)
William Shakespeare
1947, dark green morocco with stunning miniature of Shakespeare
Auld Licht Idylls
J.M. Barrie
1888, blue morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe with glazed, miniature watercolor of author
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect
Robert Burns
1787, bound purple crushed morocco for Chas. J. Sawyer of London
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