Ramage

Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1863. Full morocco, 10 inches tall. A fabulous full morocco by Ramage, noted for their luxurious gift and presentation bindings, with gilt raised bands and a plethora of inlays, onlays and gilt tooling. This remarkable volume is so richly decorated in coloured inlaid extra gilt morocco that the crimson ground of the binding appears at first to be merely a border. Five panels of the spine have inlaid brown morocco gilt tooled with thistles, crowns and the onlaid stars that also border the boards. The sixth panel on the spine is a turquoise blue morocco title-label, gilt. The design on both boards, has five heraldic shields, King James, Montrose and three others. These shields are inlaid with various leathers and embellished with ornate gilt tooling and surmounted by fine gilt tooled crowns. The background is a large panel, of the same brown as the panels on the spine, spangled with tiny gilt tooled thistles. Wide gilt dentelles and all edges gilt. The text is the first illustrated edition of Aytoun's Lays with fine wood engravings by Dalziel, Linton, Thompson, E. Evans, Whymper and others, after the notable drawings by Noel Paton and W. H. Paton. There is some light foxing particularly on the preliminaries. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey, and the bookplates of Thomas Gaisford (1779-1885, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford) and that of A. F. L.. A truly spectacular example of late Victorian English Book Binding.