Of the seventy-four bindings created by Reynolds within the Mary Reynolds Collection, twenty-four are for the works of her close friend, Jean Cocteau. The majority of these bindings are done in the same simple and clean manner—quarter vellum with sides covered in decorative paper, the same paper being used for the endsheets, with gold titling on the spine. Instead of tooling Cocteau's name in letters, Reynolds imprinted the spines with the star that often appeared under his signature. Seemingly simple, these bindings, with their unconventional decorative papers, evoke a magic and otherworldliness also found within her more complex works.


  1. Les Parents Terribles by Jean Cocteau. Paris: Gallimard, [1938].
  2. La Voix Humaine (The Human Voice) by Jean Cocteau. Paris: Librairie Stock, 1930.
  3. Thomas l'Imposteur: Historie by Jean Cocteau. Paris: Librairie Gallimard, 1923.
  4. Antigone: Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel (Antigone: Wedding Party on the Eiffel Tower) by Jean Cocteau. Paris: Librairie Gallimard, Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française, 1928.
  5. La Machine à Écrire (The Typewriter) by Jean Cocteau Paris: Gallimard, 1941.
  6. Carte Blanche: Articles appearing in Paris-Midi March 31 – August 11, 1919 by Jean Cocteau. Paris: Aux Éditions de la Sirène, 1920.
  7. Maison de Santé (Mental Hospital) by Jean Cocteau. Paris: Éditions Briant-Robert, [1926].

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