‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, prints from 11.2.80: On Creation

1981

Hocken Bliss VTW Man

[Wellington]: Hawk Press

Edgar Mansfield learned bookbinding from William Matthews (1898-1977) and design under Elsa Taterka at the Reimann School in London. With a style that can be described as abstract, Mansfield liked to take advantage of the idiosyncrasies in each piece of leather to add to the effect of his design. Often he shaped the leather cover as the glue dried to create a raised surface which was, in itself, the design or added to the overall design. He was heavily influenced by Nature in its various forms and was not fussy about the quality of printing in the books that he bound - a favourite title was H. E. Bates’s Through the Woods. This print is an example of his design style.