First edition. A fine copy. Designed by Jerry Kelly. Respected bookbinding historian and craftsman, Bernard C. Middleton seriously began collecting books on bookbinding in the 1940s. In the late 1950s, he acquired a number of rarities which once belonged in the fine Zaehnsdorf collection, the rarest of these purchases being Arnett's SCHOOL OF DESIGN. Later on as the collection grew more focused on the history and technique of bookbinding as well as a small number of fine bindings, Middleton also included books on paper-marbling, leather and conservation.

The binding collection now numbers about 1,700 titles and includes a good collection of articles extracted from 19th and 20th-century periodicals and half a dozen boxes of ephemera - binders' publicity material, price lists, exhibition catalogues, newspaper clippings and various other oddities.