George Mullen

London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1815. Full morocco, 7 1/2 inches tall. A truly remarkable binding by George Mullen of Dublin with gilt raised bands, extraordinarily ornate and fine gilt and blind tooling, typical of the Regency period, to the panels and boards. Very wide gilt tooled dentelles, red watered silk doublures and free end 'papers'. All edges gilt. With its original silk bookmark. The following is gilt tooled onto the foredge of the upper board: " Bound by Geo. Mullen Dublin". With the neat ink inscription "For the Right Honorable Philip Earl of Hardwicke, with the humble respects of the Editor", tipped on to the second blank. Very slight fading to the spine, but with no wear or splitting, overall in in excellent condition. Philip Hardwicke of Wimpole was the 3rd Earl and was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1801-05 and Colonel of the Cambridgeshire Militia. In 1790 he succeeded his uncle to his earldom and estates, including Wimpole Hall. The remarkable Tassoni is best remembered for his mock-heroic poem La Secchia Rapita known as The Rape of the Bucket in English. A splendid example of the work of one of the greatest Irish binders of the period.