Fore-Edge: This displays a pretty rendition of what a hand on the fly-leaf has denominated “Bunyan's cottage, Elstow,” being of his birthplace, near Bedford; in its greens, red, blues, tans, and whites, it incorporates a couple seated on a bench in front and several other onlookers, including a mother holding a young child who points at the house.

Binding:  Contemporary black morocco, covers framed in gilt double fillets with gilt-tooled trefoil and fleuron corner decorations surrounding an elaborate arabesque medallion, spine compartments with gilt-stamped frames and decorations, board edges with gilt roll. All edges gilt.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of John Train.

•  Binding as above, minor wear to corners and extremities. Small spots of foxing to front free endpaper and fly-leaf, pages otherwise clean. A lovely volume.  (30140)

Difficult to photograph, easy to enjoy in hand.

Fore-edge painting: A pleasantly bucolic scene of Ripley Castle in Harrogate (according to an endpaper annotation), with a few human figures dotted about the landscape.

•  Binding as above, covers with minor scuffs, spine bands and extremities rubbed; leather consolidated, hinges (inside) skillfully repaired with long-fiber tissue. Scattered mild to moderate foxing in first and last sections; faint smudging to two pages.  (28711)

Provenance: Fore-edge painted with “Elizabeth Smith, 1680"; front fly-leaf with inscription recording the birth of William Rice in 1681 and with inscription of Charles Knowlton, dated 1738; fly-leaf verso with early inked genealogy describing the Smith-Rice-Knowlton descent.

Binding: Elaborate Restoration binding: black morocco framed in gilt semi-circle and strawberry rolls surrounding a broken panel design of red-inlaid scalloped corners decorated with floral-dotted volutes, containing a bouquet of tulips and other flowers with red and citron morocco inlays; the upper- and lowermost tulips each with a smaller gilt-stamped flower and leaf tool inside, spaces filled with small flowers and dots. Spine gilt extra using cover rolls and additional floral decorations, with two decorated compartments of red morocco; board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls. The tools used do not appear to be an exact match to any binder represented in Bennett, Nixon, or Maggs: Bookbinding in the British Isles, although the tulip with superimposed small flower is reminiscent of the binder Nixon identifies as the Small Carnation Binder. All edges gilt. Fore-edge painted with name as above, surrounded by hand-painted floral decorations.

•  BCP: Wing (rev. ed.) B3659B. Not in ESTC; not in Griffiths (see 1680/5 for a very close example). Bible: ESTC R215858; Wing (rev. ed.) B2308A; Herbert 758. Psalms: Not in ESTC, not in Wing.   Binding as above, front joint cracked (sewing holding) with corners/edges rubbed; spine leather with small cracks and head chipped, small area darkened. BCP lacking A1, either a blank or a licence and much more likely an initial blank; title-page repaired at one corner. Elsewhere, one leaf with tear from outer margin, extending across one column without loss; page edges with occasional small smudges from fore-edge decorations; some faint spotting and foxing. Now housed in a café au lait morocco slipcase mistakenly giving 1630 as year of publication, based on misleading print impression on title-page. A good and interesting book apart from its extraordinary binding, charming fore-edge treatment, and multi-generational provenance.  (25925)

Binding: Contemporary straight-grain dark blue morocco now tending to olive, covers framed with a gilt single fillet; round spine with raised bands, blind roll on each band, and each band defined by gilt rules above and below it. Spine with compartments stamped in blind, gilt-stamped title, and gilt-stamped decorations at head and foot; place and date of publication in gilt at base of spine. All edges gilt; fore-edge painting as above.

•  ESTC T081415; Griffiths, Bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer, 1758/1. Binding as above, corners a bit rubbed and joints somewhat more so, with upper and outer cover edges showing some fading. Front pastedown with small shelving number slip and small bookplate of a private collector. Pages very slightly age-toned, otherwise clean save for minor bleed to some outer margins from the fore-edge painting. Beautiful.

delicately tinted fore-edge painting on the gilt edges depicting a red-jacketed fisher

Provenance: Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of John Train.

Binding:  Signed binding by Riviere & Son of full brown morocco, spine with raised bands and gilt-stamped title, board edges with gilt double fillets, turn-ins with one wide and one narrow gilt roll. All edges gilt.

•  NSTC 0337624 (for 1877 Golden Treasury ed.).   Binding as above, joints and lower corners carefully repaired with toned long-fiber tissue. Offsetting to endpapers from turn-ins; unobtrusive repair to upper inner portion of front free endpaper; back free endpaper starting to separate. Pages clean and gently age-toned. A lovely portable edition of Herrick's lyrics, in a simple but elegant Riviere binding with attractive fore-edge painting.  (30083)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of John Train; front fly-leaf with inked gift inscription to Dorothea Mary French from F.D., dated 1908.

•  Binding as above, lightly rubbed; joints tender with front one just starting at head. Occasional faint foxing; some lines of print offset. A lovely, quintessentially late-19th century production.  (30136)

Binding:  Contemporary crimson morocco, covers framed in wide stylized thistle and leaf gilt roll with gilt-tooled corner fleurons, spine compartments with similar gilt motifs, turn-ins with gilt roll. All edges gilt. Volume housed in recent red cloth-covered slipcase.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of collector John Train and with small ticket of Rastall & Son Booksellers, back pastedown with ticket of Leighton Son, & Hodge of London. Front free endpaper with inked inscription: “To Minnie on her marriage,” from A.B., dated Oct. 1858.

•  NSTC 2M29671.   Binding as above, minor rubbing to extremities, spine leather very slightly darkened and showing thin faint cracks. Front hinge (inside) cracked but holding. Small newspaper clipping regarding Milton and a slim silk ribbon marker (possibly once attached to binding) laid in. Plates with moderate spotting confined to upper margins only, not touching images; pages clean. An attractive and very Victorian rendition of Milton.  (30150)

A “Map of Servia and the Adjoining Countries” engraved by J. & C. Walker faces the title.

Fore-edge: Gracing the volume is a neat and colorful fore-edge painting of St. Paul's cathedral viewed from the Thames, with a sailboat manned by two men in the foreground drifting by Blackfriars Bridge.

Binding: 19th-century gilt red morocco, boards quadruple-ruled in gilt; innermost frames punctuated by elegant fleurons, upper board stamped at the center with arms featuring a crowned double-headed eagle with orb and olive branch encircled by a motto in Cyrillic. Spine gilt extra, with title and author in second compartment; gilt turn-ins and all edges gilt.

•  Binding and fore-edge as above; extremities rubbed, especially the joints (which are just starting), and corners bumped. Lower margins and early/late leaves waterstained; overall text mildly age-toned at edges and foxed in places with a touch of green pigment bled from a sewing cord visible at gutter in two signatures. A right wonderful volume.  (29600)

Binding:  Publisher's scarlet morocco, covers framed in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons surrounding a central gilt-stamped wreath, spine with gilt-stamped title within decorative wreath/cartouche. All edges gilt.

The Fore-edge Paintings: This presents a double fore-edge painting, one view of Dieppe and one of Le Havre, each maritime scene captioned within the image by the artist. The Havre portscape is rendered in particularly pleasing sunset colors.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with bookplate of collector John Train, and with small ticket of binder F. Westley.

•  NSTC 2S36004.   Binding as above, spine slightly darkened, light mottling to sides, joints skillfully repaired, minor leather losses refurbished with toned long-fiber tissue and (reversible) polyvinyl adhesive. In later plain terra-cotta cloth slipcase, case showing light shelf wear. Some plates with foxing offset onto tissue guards and added engraved title-page showing offsetting from frontispiece; pages clean. Evocative both textually and visually.  (30211)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of John Train.

Binding:  Contemporary maroon straight-grain morocco framed in wide gilt border and panelled in gilt single fillet, spine with gilt-stamped title and decorations, board edges (at corners) and turn-ins with gilt roll. All edges gilt.

•  NSTC 2S9246.   Binding as above, moderately rubbed; hinges (inside) slightly tender. Front free endpaper verso with inked ownership inscription.  Light to moderate foxing throughout, pages otherwise clean.  (30141)

Fore-edge: This beautiful example bears a subtly shaded (and therefore hard to photograph)fore-edge painting showing Westminster Abbey in the background behind a waterfront view with sailboats.

Binding:  Full straight-grain dark olive green morocco, covers framed in elegant feather and pearl twist gilt roll, turn-ins with floral gilt roll. Stone-pattern marbled endpapers. All edges gilt.

•  Griffiths, Bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer, 1802/1.   Binding as above, mild rubbing overall with some abraded areas consolidated, joints and extremities subtly repaired, aesthetically appropriate endbands supplied. Title-page with inked ownership inscription dated 1803, “The gift of my beloved husband.” Intermittent faint spots of foxing, mostly confined to early leaves. One inked marginal annotation in an early hand, three psalms (145–47) with small inked emphasis marks, pages otherwise clean.  (28715)

Bindings: Straight-grained maroon morocco, covers framed in gilt triple fillets, spines with gilt-stamped author and title; board edges with gilt roll, turn-ins with gilt double fillets. All edges gilt.

Provenance:  Front pastedowns each with armorial bookplate of collector John Train; front fly-leaves with early inked ownership inscriptions of Lucy S. Sanford and T. (or J.?) Lister.

•  NSTC 2W4371. Bound as above, rubbed at joints/extremities, hinges (inside) tender; text block of vol. II starting to separate from spine and front free endpaper with outer edge chipped.  Pages generally clean; moderate foxing to some plates, with offsetting to surrounding pages. Unusual and very attractive.  (30156)