Morocco Bindings

Berlin: Photographische Gesellschaft Berlin, 1895. Full morocco, 26 1/2 inches tall by the great London firm of Leighton of Golden Square and with their ticket. A binding of the finest quality with 2 raised bands on a smooth back and an elaborate series of gilt rolls to the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edge. Scratch to the lower board and light foxing, otherwise pristine. An elephant folio with 51 photogravures printed on hand-made paper of works by Rembrandt. With 3 title pages listing 16 plates from the Dresden Gallery, 17 from the Cassel Gallery and 18 from the Berlin Gallery. The blind stamp of the Photographische Gesellschaft Berlin is found in the margin under each plate. This is a Rothschild copy from the Exbury House Library.

Philadelphia: Privately printed, 1931. Magnificent full morocco, 18 inches tall. With gilt raised bands, superb extra gilt panels and exceptional gilt tooling to the boards. With wide dentelles and watered silk doublures and end papers.
 Widener and his father assembled an extensive and valuable art collection displayed at Lynnewood Hall. The collection included works from Bellini, Cellini, Degas, Donatello, El Greco, Frans Hals, Gainsborough, Monet, Raphael, Rembrandt, Titian, Van Dyck. His great philanthropic endeavor was as founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. In 1942, Widener donated over 2,000 pieces of art to the museum. A unique and spectacular copy in its original slip case.

London: The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1849. Full morocco, 7 1/2 inches tall. An impressive Victorian binding with gilt raised bands, fine extra gilt tooling to the panels and boards, gilt dentelles and all edges. Engraved illustrations throughout. Slight rubbing and a neat ink inscription, dated 1852, on the first blank. Philip Henry Gosse was an English naturalist who popularised many aspects of natural science. He natural created the world's first public aquarium at London Zoo in 1853, and coined the term "aquarium".

London: MacMillans' 1892. Full morocco, 7 1/4 inches tall. A superb full crushed morocco with raised bands, gilt titles, dentelles and all edges. A gilt coronet atop the initial 'R' is on the upper board. Some rubbing to the shoulders. With the bookplate of Durdans, Rosebery's Surrey country house. Inscribed to The Earl of Rosebery on the first blank, a letter in the same hand is loosely inserted and a blind stamp on the title page. Lord Rosebery famously said that he had three aims in life: to win the Derby, to marry an heiress, and to become Prime Minister. He achieved all three.

Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and London: Hurst, Robinson and Co., 1822-1830. 53 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A magnificent set in bound in the highest quality Georgian full hard grain morocco with gilt raised bands and superb extra gilt panels. Gilt and blind fillets frame the boards. All edges gilt. Each volume has an engraved title page and further full page engravings. There is a degree of foxing, mostly to the engraving, but a generally very clean set. There is some scratching and a couple of small gouges, but is very smart and has absolutely no splitting or loss. A remarkable set.

London: John Bumpus, et al., 1822. Full morocco, 6 inches tall. A rather splendid binding with wide gilt raised bands, gilt, blind and inked tooling to the panels. A very smart gilt roll with inked thistle corner tools frames the boards. All edges gilt. With the armorial bookplate of Robert Williams of Bride Head in Dorset. There is a stain to the engraved portrait and slight darkening of the spine, otherwise clean. A delightful little copy of the works of this great Scottish 18th century poet.

Amsterdam: 1745. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. An exquisite full crushed morocco binding by Reymann with gilt raised bands and exceptionally fine and delicate tooling to the panels. Triple gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. The whole work is remarkably bright and clean. There is a small black ink stain in the margin of pages 3-6 in volume one and no frontispiece to volume 2 was ever bound in. Embellished with an engraved frontispiece to volume 1, engraved vignettes to both title pages, Engraved tailpieces and 68 engravings illustrating the tales. In the original French.

London: Shakespeare Press, for John Major, 1826-1828. 5 volume set, 10 inches tall. A beautiful later straight grain morocco binding by Riviere with gilt bands on green calf on a smooth back and gilt tooling to the panels. Triple gilt fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Slight rubbing, but a fine clean set. Illustrated with 80 fine full page engraved portraits. Horace Walpole was an English politician, art historian and antiquarian, celebrated for writing this great work of art history and the first Gothic novel, 'The Castle of Otranto'.

London: Cadell and Moxon, 1834. Full morocco, 8 inches tall. A superb early Victorian full hard grain morocco binding by the great firm of Hayday with the following inscription in pencil on the paste down endpaper: "Bound in prize leather, Exhibited at the Great Exhibition, Hyde Park 1851". With raised bands, fine ornate gilding around a single 'Aldine' vine leaf. A series of gilt rolls and fillets frame the Grecian Urn device on the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Armorial bookplate. Roger's poetry is mostly remembered for the fine engraved vignettes by Turner and others in this edition rather than for its artistic merit. Slight foxing, as usual.

London: Sherwood, 1825. 2 Volume set, 9 1/2" tall. A later beautiful full crushed Morocco by Ramage with gilt raised bands and superb gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt corner tools and fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges, and the book plate of Joseph Turner. Embellished with 71 witty hand coloured aquatints, 2 engraved title pages and many engraved vignettes. A wonderful set of this highly entertaining work.

London: Strahan and Co., 1870. 10 volume set, 5 1/4" . An usually heavy sumptuous morocco binding with gilt raised bands and gilt and onlayed calf tooling. With dentelles and all edges gilt . The text is decorated with initials and headings. A really lovely little set.

London: J. M. Dent & Co., c.1900. Full morocco, 5 3/4 inches tall. A wonderful example of one of Ramage's luxurious full morocco bindings (see our extensive selection), in pristine condition. With gilt raised bands, extraordinary extra gilt tooling to the panels and boards. With wide gilt doublures, watered silk 'end papers', and all edges gilt. Portrait and decorated title page. From the recently dispersed library of a Dorset Country House.

London: T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1820. 2 volume set, 10 inches tall. An impressive early Victorian full hard grain morocco binding by the great firm of Wright. With raised bands, gilt pallets and twin gilt fillets framing the boards. The initials J.R. are on the tail of both spines. All edges gilt. Embellished with 2 engraved vignettes on the title pages and 20 full page engravings, as called for, by Thomas Stothard. A little foxing to several plates, overall in pristine condition. A very handsome set of Defoe's early 18th century tale, which remains one of the most popular adventures ever written.

London: Shakspeare Printing Office, 1804. Full morocco, 9 inches tall. A superb later crushed morocco by the great firm of Bedford. With gilt raised bands and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Slight rubbing. With delightful full page engravings and engraved vignettes by Bewick. With lives of Goldsmith and Parnell, Parnell's greatest poem, 'The Hermit' and Goldsmith's 'The Traveller' and 'The Deserted Village'.

London: John Murray, 1869. Full morocco, 8 1/2 inches tall. A splendid heavy Victorian full hard grain morocco with the coronet and initials of Baron Saye et Sele of the Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family in the top panel. With gilt raised bands and very fine gilt tooling to the panels, gilt dentelles and all edges. With a gilt blocked crest on both boards and prize bookplate on the paste down endpaper. Foxing to the preliminaries, then clean. Slight rubbing. An impressive copy of this biography of the great Roman statesman and philosopher.

London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1874. 2 volume set, 8 1/4 inches tall. A stunning dark pink hard grain morocco binding with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and magnificent gilt tooling to the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Book plate. Illustrated throughout. A fine set of this classic work by the Dublin born art historian, Mrs. Jameson.

Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1826. 8 volume set, 9 inches tall. A superb, if slightly faded, full William IV hard grain morocco with raised bands, gilt titles, dentelles and all edges. With the armorial bookplate of Laurence Currie. Slight rubbing but a very handsome and clean set of Clarendon's great 'History of the Rebellion'.

London: G. Virtue, 1830. Full morocco, 10 inches tall. An exceptionally tall copy in a beautiful later full straight grain morocco binding by Sotheran of Piccadilly. With gilt raised bands, a superb boxing centre tool within an ornate cartouche in the panels and the boards, gilt dentelles and top edges, the remaining edges untrimmed. With 2 armorial bookplates. Embellished with all 36 hilarious hand-coloured aquatints from designs by Robert Cruikshank. A pristine example of this great comic work, in which our heroes continue with their debauched adventures around London.