Edgar Mansfield

Upper cover of The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite by F. L. Lucas (Golden Cockerel Press, 1948) James Frank Edgar Mansfield (11 February 1907 − 10 August 1996) was a New Zealand bookbinder and sculptor, who has been described as the "main inspiration behind modern British bookbinding".

Early life and education Mansfield was born in London in 1907 and died in Bearsted, Kent 10 August 1996.

Mansfield matriculated from Napier Boys' High School in 1923 and studied art in Dunedin at the King Edward Technical College with William Allen and Robert Nettleton Field.

Work In the late 1940s Mansfield decided to focus on bookbinding. His work re-energised the art form:Instead of adopting the traditional decorative motifs of the bookbinder, he looked to contemporary fine art for inspiration. His bold and expressive designs, derived from the language of abstract art, helped to revitalise the craft of bookbinding during the 1940s and 1950s.

Mansfield returned to New Zealand following his retirement. Though largely living in England for most of his adult life he visited New Zealand frequently and maintained contact with New Zealand friends and artists, thinking of himself as “a New Zealander through and through”. A text was commissioned from anthropologist Terence Barrow, Brian Brake photographed Mansfield's sculptures, Mansfield wrote a text about his life and approach to his work, and the Governor-General of the time Sir David Beattie contributed an introduction.

In the 1979 Queen's Birthday Honours, Mansfield was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services as a bookbinder and sculptor.

The Mansfield Medal, awarded in the annual British Designer Bookbinders Society competition, is named in his honour.