The Jimi Hendrix Bibliographic Experience

This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection.  

This week’s feature is the second of two sculptural volumes: in this case, the binding itself, rather than the enclosure, defies convention. The book, a paperback French biography of Jimi Hendrix published in 1976, is unremarkable in itself. However, it’s been rebound in carved wooden boards covered in marbled paper, and attached to the rear cover are several spiky projections painted to resemble flames. Pasted inside the boards are photographs of Hendrix; the paperback’s original covers are preserved within. An autograph in pencil on the title page , “Woderer 92”, may be the binder’s signature; otherwise, we have no indication of this unusual binding’s provenance.

Benoit Feller. Jimi Hendrix. Paris: Albin Michel, c1976. ML410.H476 F4 1976.

Thanks to rare book cataloger Ryan Wheeler for contributing this post.