Sue Allen

Sue Allen, an independent scholar, graphic artist, and expert on English and American bookbinding, died on August 25, 2011. A 1940 graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art, she received the American Printing History Association’s annual award in 1999 for her distinguished contributions to printing history. As one of the original instructors at Rare Book School from its founding at Columbia University to the University of Virginia, she inspired hundreds of RBS students over her 18-year association with the school. Her career as a graphic artist began at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. She discovered what would become her passion – nineteenth and early twentieth-century cloth bookbinding – in the 1970s when the subject was largely unrecognized. Sue Allen defined and structured the field, focusing on the work of artists, designers, binders, and publishers, with particular attention to the engraver John Feely and the publisher Orange Judd. She combined her extensive knowledge with an engaging style and a passionate commitment to this field of study. Her long-awaited book on nineteenth century American bookbinding was nearing completion at the time of her death; her son plans to contact friends and former students to help finish the project.