Herringbone Bindery
Erin Fletcher : Fine Binding & Edition Binding
Front cover of The Nightingale and the Rose binding on a white table. Front cover of The Nightingale and the Rose binding on a white table. Close-up of front cover of The Nightingale and the Rose binding on a white table. Interior of The Nightingale and the Rose binding on a white table. Interior of The Nightingale and the Rose binding on a white table. Spine of The Nightingale and the Rose binding on a white table. Edge of The Nightingale and the Rose binding on a white table. Box and The Nightingale and the Rose binding standing on a white table. Box interior of The Nightingale and the Rose binding on a white table.
The Nightingale and the Rose - by Oscar Wilde
With wood engravings by Alan James Robinson
Rebecca Press in cooperation with Cheloniidæ Press, Maryland, 1985
Unsigned edition

Private Collection, US

French-style miniature fine binding with laced in boards. Bound in dark green goatskin with back-pared onlays. Bird is embellished with various onlays of goatskin and buffalo skin with embroidered elements. Wood Veneer inlay. Ascona tooled inlay in scarlet goatskin. Author hand tooled in blind in Gills Sans. Graphite edge with scarlet leather wrapped headbands. Edge-to-edge doublures in tan goatskin. Rose onlay decorates lower doublure with various onlays of goatskin and buffalo skin with embroidered elements. Flyleaves in handmade (by the binder) leek paper.

Book is housed in a clamshell box covered with tan goatskin and handmade Leek paper. Author stamped on spine in gray foil. Title stamped on paper label in gray foil and attached to cover. Trays covered in granite Cave Paper and lined with light gray Silsuede.

7.1cm x 5.8cm x 1.1cm - Completed in 2015



Exhibition History
  • Exhibited in Society of Bookbinders 2015 International Competition at Keele University (UK)
  • Exhibited in 2015 North Bennet Street School Student & Alumni Exhibit
  • Exhibited at the Grolier Club - "A Matter of Size: Miniature Texts & Bindings" from the Collection of Patricia J. Pistner, 2019



Artist Statement
The Nightingale chooses to give her life so that a young man may find love. By piercing her breast into the thorn of a rose, her blood stains the white rose red. This selfless act and transference of life is illustrated on the binding in a highly detailed manner just as it is in the delicate wood engraving by Alan James Robinson.

Read about the binding process of this book on my blog.