The opening spread of a special copy of an 1895 Dent edition of 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' sold for £2600 at Lyon & Turnbull.
The illustrations to this edition are the work of Robert Anning Bell, but this copy, which made £2600 in the November 2-3 decorative arts auction, is a rather special one.
The plates have been coloured by Gloria Cardew and the book rebound by members of the Guild of Women-Binders, whose relief cover design incorporates the figure of Puck and other fairies.
Though she was a prolific colourist who also did work for the Kelmscott and Vale private presses, little is known about Cardew and it is possible, said the saleroom, that she used a pseudonym in her work.
