Drop Dead Gorgeous exhibition in London

Drop Dead Gorgeous was first shown at the San Francisco Center for the Book in the Fall of 2019. 

A catalog of the exhibit is available from SFCB; see details below.

DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, an exhibition of twenty-five fine bindings of La Prose du Transsibérien Re-creation, will finally be shown at Maggs Bros. Ltd. Rare Books and Manuscripts in London from October 4 to October 25, 2021. The exhibit, originally slated for June 2020, had been postponed due to Covid. The exhibit was curated by Kitty Maryatt; Simon Eccles and Toby Schwartzburg are the Co-Curators. Twenty-five binders from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. were commissioned to bind a copy of this facsimile of the 1913 La Prose du Transsibérien by Sonia Delaunay and Blaise Cendrars, published in 2018 by Two Hands Press. The exhibit commenced in 2019 in San Francisco, traveled to Los Angeles and Boston in 2020, and was shown virtually at the Minnesota Center for the Book in 2021. The exhibit is open from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm during the week at 48 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DR.

 

You can still view the virtual MCBA exhibit in “past events.” 

 

There are several events coordinating with the DROP DEAD GORGEOUS exhibit at Maggs in October 2021:

 

1. October 2: Zoom event with the binders of La Prose du Transsibérien Re-creation, 7:00 pm UK time, 11:00 PDT. More details to come on the next blog entry. Registration required.

 

2. October 9-10: Traditional French Pochoir Workshop at St. Bride’s Library, London, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Book here.

 

3. October 11: Showing of the hour-long documentary by Rosylyn Rhee, “The Re-creation of a Masterpiece: La Prose du Transsibérien”, at Maggs Bros. at 6:00 pm. Interviews with scholars, booksellers, collectors, and underwriters of the project, and demonstrations of traditional French pochoir technique. Reservations required: ben@maggs.com.

 

4. October 25: Special visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum at 1:00 pm to view an original copy of the 1913 La Prose du Transsibérien, Blaise Cendrars’ La Fin du Monde, and Sonia Delaunay’s 1925 portfolio Ses Peintures, Ses Objets, Ses Tissues Simultanés, Ses Modes. Reservations required: twohandspress@gmail.com.

 

The 110-page catalog for DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, Fine Bindings for La Prose du Transsibérien Re-creation is available from the San Francisco Center for the Book for $50 plus tax and shipping, at www.sfcb.org. You can also purchase the catalog for £45 from Maggs Bros. at www.maggs.com. The catalog includes a fold-out of the facsimile and a section on traditional French pochoir. Photos from the catalog will be forthcoming in the next blog.

 

Binding by Haein Song

Binding by Lang Ingalls

Binding by Coleen Curry

Binding by Tracy Rowledge

Binding by Derek Hood