2022 Bibliophile Trip to the UK

This fall, I traveled for the first time since the pandemic. So, naturally, I turned the trip into another book-related exploration. I was fortunate to be in Oxford during three significant book-related exhibits: the International Designer Bookbinders Exhibit, the Bodleian's exhibit entitled Sensational Books focusing on the senses that are evoked through reading books, and the Ashmolean's exhibit on the Pre-Raphaelite artists, including their book illustrations.

The Pennyroyal Press Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass w/Barry Moser Engravings

These are photos of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, printed at Pennyroyal Press in 1982 with wood engravings by Barry Moser. Bookbinder Philip Smith completed the forwarding of these two fine press books over in the U.K., but the binding was not completed before his death. He made a notation on the colophon at the back of both regarding when he had started the forwarding of the books.

A Bibliophile’s Tour of London

To start our book world exploration, Anthony Davis, solicitor, scholar of distinction, and bibliophile, provided us with two, half-day private tours around specific areas of London, such as Bloomsbury, that were rich in history related to literature and books.