Rare Book School Lectures

Rachael DiEleuterio gave the inaugural Sue Allen Lecture for Women in Book History, on “Curious and Creative Women,” on 28 July 2025. She was joined by Daphne Sawyer, who endowed the lecture in memory of her mother, Mary Sawyer (1925–2024), and of longtime RBS faculty member Sue Allen (1918–2011). You can watch the full recording of the lecture on YouTube at https://youtu.be/2YurCWdLYIo?feature=shared. About the Talk: What do mother-and-daughter book collectors, nineteenth-century book cover designers, and an art museum librarian have in common? Rare Book School, of course! But there's more to the story. All of them are women, deeply passionate about the history of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century publishers' book bindings. These bindings, many of which were designed by women, are stunning works of art. As the commercial book market boomed in the latter half of the nineteenth century, decorative bindings became an essential part of book production. These publishers' bindings showcased technological ad