Lot 181: Sir Ambrose Heal (1872-1959) THE ENGLISH WRITING-MASTERS. 1931

HEAL, Sir Ambrose (1872-1959). The English Writing-Masters and their Copy-Books, 1570-1800. A biographical dictionary & a bibliography. With an introduction to the development of handwriting by Stanley Morison. London: [Cambridge University Press for the] First Edition Club, 1931. The Major Abbey-Breslauer copy, specially bound for the former by Sydney M. Cockerell: a limited edition of 100 copies, this numbered XVII. The authoritative work on the subject. Its author, Sir Ambrose Heal, was the head of the celebrated London furniture shop, Heal's, and himself a furniture designer. He also wrote on tradesmen's cards, signboards of shops, London furniture makers and goldsmiths. H.M. Nixon & M. Kennedy, Modern British Bookbindings in the Collection of J.R. Abbey (London: Arts Council, 1965) no. 5. Folio (318 x 220mm). Engraved frontispiece, 81 plates. Black morocco-backed vellum-covered boards, bound for J.R. Abbey by Sydney M. Cockerell, with decoration designed in 1965 by Joan Rix Tebbut, the upper cover decorated with a calligraphic design of gold-tooled fillets and pen-drawn lines on which is superimposed a semi-abstract shape of a cockerell in bold gilt fillets, filled with a semi of stars, the lower cover decorated with a matching design of gilt and pen-drawn fillets, the spine undecorated but boldly lettered in gilt, vellum turn-ins decorated with gilt dots, liners and endleaves of patterned 'Cockerell' paper, binder’s gilt stamp on rear turn-in, contained within a velvet-lined blue morocco-backed cloth box. Provenance: Major John R. Abbey (1894-1964; bookplate, sale Sotheby’s 19 October 1970, lot 2723, sold