The Birthday Souvenir
London: Griffith and Farran, [n.d., 1850]. First edition. All pages are chromographically illustrated in colors and gold with elaborate borders and decorative titles. Also with a chromolithograph title-page and presentation page. Chromolithographed by Ashbee & Dangerfield. A slight rubbing to head and tail of spine and corners, but overall the binding is very clean and attractive. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Some light foxing. Ink gift signatures to front flyleaf and presentation page (both from a brother to his sister, dated 1866). List of family birthdays in ink in multiple hands to first interleaf (dates from 1849-1920). A very good, bright copy of an uncommon book. Original red morocco stamped in black and titled in gilt. Gilt spine with raised bands. Octavo. 27 pp. Item #16979
In Victorian Book Design, Ruari McLean writes: “A series of illuminated books with a character of their own, and almost the only series not published by Day & Son, were those illuminated by Samuel Stanesby. He produced at least eleven between 1857 and 1865, published by Griffith & Farran, and mostly chromolithographed by Ashbee & Dangerfield. They were small books with every page chromolithographed, and highly decorated bindings,” (p. 134).
McLean, Victorian Book Design, p. 134. Also see McLean, Victorian Publisher’s Book-Bindings in Cloth & Leather, p. 70.
Price: $500.00