Alasdair Gray (1934-2019)
Original cover design for Something Leather, 1989
Estimate: £300 - £500
Auction: 18 June 2025 from 10:00 BST
Description
single sheet, 25.2 x 36.8cm, card and paper collage, incorporating photocopied elements and an original pen-and-ink outline sketch, Gray's autograph annotations overall in red ballpoint pen, folded along centre.
Together with: 2 autograph letters signed from Gray to Ian Craig as art director at Jonathan Cape, 1989, each including an original sketched cover design by Gray (each a single foolscap sheet of Gray's personal stationery, 29.8 x 21cm, written on both sides); a photocopy of the design for the dust jacket flaps, annotated and marked up by Gray in red and black ink, 22 x 21cm; and 1 related item
Provenance
Estate of the late Ian Craig.
Footnote
Something Leather was published by Jonathan Cape in 1989. Ian Craig (1944-2023) was Cape's art director from 1973 to 1989, overseeing the production of the final published works by Roald Dahl and becoming highly valued by artists and authors including Ralph Steadman, who insisted that Craig continue to work on his books (published by Cape) in an independent capacity after Craig's departure for rival publisher HarperCollins. In 1992, while at HarperCollins, Craig was assigned to work with The Tiger Who Came to Tea author Judith Kerr, initiating a celebrated collaboration which lasted until Kerr's death in 2019.