2025 Sue Allen Lecture: “Curious and Creative Women”

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).

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 advancements in mass production while reflecting contemporaneous artistic movements. Book cover design was one of few creative professions open to women, whose innovations transformed the field until the more cost-effective paper dust jacket took over in the 1920s. By the 1960s, these beautiful covers had fallen out of fashion, relegated to attics and basements, and even destroyed. However, a few dedicated individuals began collecting these bindings as works of art, gradually identifying their unique design styles, designers, and histories. This presentation will focus on a few RBS alumnae who have made it their mission to preserve these remarkable bindings for posterity.

About the Speaker:
Rachael DiEleuterio has been Librarian and Archivist at the Delaware Art Museum since 2008, where she singlehandedly oversees the Helen Farr Sloan Library & Archives. She is a Certified Archivist and has B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Delaware and an M.S.L.S. from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. She first became fascinated with decorative book bindings in 2011, when she attended Sue Allen’s class at Rare Book School and hasn’t stopped talking about them since.