A grand copy of this scarce special edition of William Cowper’s popular comic ballad printed on Japanese paper for the Guild of Women-Binders and limited to 100 copies only, inscribed by the industrious Scottish philanthropist, vicereine (of Ireland and Canada) and supporter of women’s causes, Ishbel, Lady Aberdeen to her brother-in-law Matthew White, Viscount Ridley 2nd Baron Wensleydale, the recently elected Tory MP for Stalybridge; a gift that speaks to Lady Aberdeen’s support of women artisans.
“A woman of immense influence and dedication,” Ishbel (Gordon), Lady Aberdeen (1857-1939; formerly Marjoribanks) and her husband John Hamilton-Gordon, Lord Aberdeen (later Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair) were “thoughtful and dedicated philanthropists,” their reforming zeal underpinned by their shared evangelical faith. They founded and funded organisations and opportunities for working people, especially girls and women, originally on their own estate, Haddo House, Aberdeenshire (where Ishbel inscribed this copy), and eventually internationally, in England, Ireland, the USA and Canada; Lady Aberdeen was an international public figure and President of the The International Council of Women (ICW).
The Guild of Women-Binders was a collective of female artisans, which sought to promote and sell the work of established women bookbinders as well as to train novice female artist-practitioners. Founded by London bookseller Frank Karslake in May 1898 the Guild was a business venture, which wasn’t a success, folding in 1904. The Guild also published a number of titles, as is the case here: other copies of this title have featured bindings by the Guild.
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