We received this query via email.

"I live in England. When I was child in 1952 in Portsmouth, Hampshire UK, I found a medal in my back garden. After all these years I have started research and found out it is the bronze medal presented to A A Turbayne the Arts and Craft Book Designer at the 1900 Paris Exhibition. I have searched the web but can find no more about Mr Turbayne who I understand was an American living in England. Can you offer any advice for my future research."

Hello. Your question is interesting and we'll be happy to circulate it among our forum members and see if anyone has any additional information.

Because book design and typography are personal areas of interest, I decided to do a cursory search. A. A. Turbayne produced several volumes of monograms and ciphers and alphabets and numerals around 1900-5. Dover Publications has reprinted the monograms.

Albert Angus Turbayne was born in Boston, U.S.A. in 1866 but later went to London to work for the London County Council School of Photoengraving and Lithography. His principal artistic work was the design of books and bindings. He won a bronze medal for binding design at the Paris 1900 Exhibition (which you have in your possession). (See Decorated Bindings.)
There are records on Mr. Turbayne on Ancestry. He was evidently married in London, but I don't have access to British records so can't provide more detail. It appears that he may have died in 1940. You might check various volumes of Who's Who for literary and art fields around the turn of the 20th century.

It sort of begs the question, what the devil was the medal doing in your garden? I don't know that this will necessarily help, but hope you'll let us know what you find out. We'll keep our eyes open and see if we come up with anything more useful.

Hi, Turbayne (and his colleagues of Carlton Studio) was responsible for the majority of the cover design for A&C Black's colour books from 1901 to 1930 (see A&C Black Colour Books a collector guide and bibliography 1900-1930 by Colin Inman) and he won a bronze metal for binding design at the Paris 1900 Exhibition (see Royal Academy of Arts Collection website); may be it's the medal You found.
Hope it's useful.
Best regards
Francesco (Italy)

Here is an image of a book cover designed by Albert Angus Turbayne.

In the collection of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Lauren