Sarah's Books - Used & Rare

...before we return to the main program. Steven mentioned artist and book designer Sarah Wyman Whitman in his comment yesterday, and I thought I'd post a photograph I took two years ago in Boston, when I was wandering around Beacon Hill on the morning of the marathon (I had hours to fill while Ryan was running):

The plaque is barely readable in this photo, but I post it here because it marks the former home of Sarah Wyman Whitman. She made stained glass windows, painted, and designed beautiful cloth book covers for decades, mostly for Houghton Mifflin. A good sample of her work appears here (scroll down to see the book covers). Her designs are so understated and elegant, and after seeing a group of her bindings you realize what a unique and delicate touch she had. Other bindings of the time (or really, of any time) look positively clumsy in comparison. I mean, just look at that copy of Walden, and its dust jacket! Very very verrrry nice. I wish I had a copy myself. I do have a few of her Sarah Orne Jewett bindings, though - I'll bring one from home to share sometime soon. Thanks for mentioning her, Steven. Although now I find myself wondering where Margaret Armstrong lived.