[THE LAND PRESS]. DOYLE, Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. [Oxford: Printed by the Senecio Press for The Land Press, 1988].
4to. With reproductions of the original illustrations by Sidney Paget; the frontispiece illustration of Holmes by Paget is published here for the first time. Specially bound for this edition by John Pearson in modern full black morocco, with snakeskin inlaid into boards, black laid paper pastedowns, tan handmade paper free endpapers, stamp-signed by John Pearson; publisher’s full black cloth clamshell case, black gilt morocco lettering label on spine, with felt lining (minor occasional bumping to case).
LIMITED EDITION, number 8 of 150 SPECIALLY-BOUND ON MOHAWK ACID-FREE PAPER, SIGNED BY PEARSON. According to the publisher’s prospectus (enclosed - some wear, ownership bookplate), buyers had a choice of four different hand-made bindings by one of four expert binders (Jeff Clements, Angela James, Denise Lubet, and John Pearson). This was the final publication of The Land Press, due to the premature death of its founder, David Bathurst: this is one of a few copies actually printed and bound before the dissolution of The Land Press. An excellent presentation of these stories, its binding being a reference to one of the most famous of all of the Sherlock Holmes stories, The Speckled Band.