Mr. T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, the founder of the Doves Bindery
and Doves Press, died on September 7th at the age of eighty-one He was one of the last of the famous band of craftsmen who in the 'eighties, with William Morris at their head, led the revolt against artistic stuffiness. They sought by ideals of simplicity and sound workmanship to substitute functional beauty for empty ornament. In the course of an early career at the Bar he wore himself out compiling from infinite com- plexities a monumental digest of the rights and obligations of the London and North-Western Railway. After his marriage in 1882 to Anne Cobden, a daughter of Richard Cobden, at the suggestion of Mrs. William Morris he turned to bookbinding. He revived this art with a richness and individuality of treat. ment which has not only had a great influence upon a succession of pupils, but has made his books much sought after by con. noisseurs. In 1900, after the closing of the Kelmscott Press, he turned his attention to printing. Impressed by the simple beauty of type and setting, he eschewed all other ornament in his books, and his quarto edition of the Bible stands as a tribute to his faith. The dignified beauty of those five vellum-bound volumes is remarkable.
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