Folio. Two original leaves from the Doves Press printed on vellum, one with gilt initial, tipped-in. Mounted photograph of Emery Walker and Thomas-James Cobden-Sanderson printed from original negative tipped-in. Original quarter-vellum. 

LIMITED EDITION, letter D of 12 lettered copies containing two vellum leaves and one of 10 with gilt initial. SIGNED BY STROUSE, DREYFUS, AND LEONARD F. BAHR. The Doves Press was founded in 1900 as a joint venture between bookbinder Thomas-James Cobden-Sanderson and engraver Emery Walker, both of whom had been close friends of William Morris. Over time the two men found themselves at odds over how the business should be run, with Cobden-Sanderson becoming increasingly resentful of what he viewed as Walker’s lack of engagement with the press’s day-to-day operations. Following the completion of the Doves Bible (from which a leaf on vellum is presented here), Walker and Cobden-Sanderson decided to dissolve their partnership under the stipulation that Walker receive the original typeface punches and matrices upon the death of Cobden-Sanderson. Dissatisfied with this arrangement, Cobden-Sanderson over the course of 170 trips from his workshop to a nearby bridge threw the entirety of the Doves punches and matrices into the River Thames.