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Description
Title: The Comic History of England & The Comic History of Rome.
Author: Gilbert A. A'Beckett.
Illustrator: John Leech.
Publisher: …
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Title: The Comic History of England & The Comic History of Rome.
Author: Gilbert A. A'Beckett.
Illustrator: John Leech.
Publisher: Bradbury, Agnew, & Co.
Bookbinder: Bayntun of Bath, England.
Origin: London.
Publication date: N.D. (circa 1880).
Description: 1890 Pp. (England - V1; 194 p., V2; 432 p., V3; 208 p., V4; 416 p. with Index, Rome - V1; 222 p., V2; 418 p. with Index) 4to. 3/4 green leather hardcovers, 5 raised band spine covers, gilt title, marble boards with leather corner caps, contrasting endpapers, tissue guarded color frontispieces opposite title pages, each volume illustrated with in-text woodcuts and 10 full page hand-colored steel engravings, finely bound by Bayntun of Bath, England. The Comic History of England - Complete in 4 volumes. The Comic History of Rome - Complete in 2 volumes. Armorial bookplate adhered to front endpapers.
Measures: 1.25 (overall 7.5) W x 7.5 D x 10.5 H inches.
Provenance: Armorial bookplate of George Francis Lindsay.
About the work: A'Beckett portrays prominent characters and events of history and legend.
About the author: Gilbert Abbott à Beckett (1811 – 1856) was an English humorist, best known as the author of these works. Previously, he edited the comic paper Figaro in London and was one of the original staff of Punch and a contributor until his death. He was an active journalist on The Times and The Morning Herald, contributed a series of light articles to the Illustrated London News, conducted in 1846 The Almanack of the Month and found time to produce some fifty or sixty plays, among them dramatized versions of Charles Dickens's shorter stories, written in collaboration with Mark Lemon.
About the bookbinder: Charles Edwin George Bayntun, more commonly known as George Bayntun (1873 – 1940) was an English bookseller, bookbinder, and collector. He took on a number of London binders in order to raise the standard of craftsmanship in his own bindery and soon afterwards moved the business into larger premises on Walcot Street in Bath. In 1920, he purchased the bindery business of George Gregory, and in 1939, the Bayntun and Rivière binderies were incorporated into a new set of premises on Manvers Street in Bath, from where the business still operates today.
Bayntun adhered to traditional book binding techniques, and built a strong relationship with many American dealers, Arthur Brentano of Brentano's, Maurice Inman, and Nat Ladden. On one occasion, A. S. W. Rosenbach hosted a lunch in his honour on a visit to New York City in 1936.
Bayntun's last years were crowned by the patronage of Queen Mary, who spent the World War II years near Bath. She granted the firm the royal appointment of Bookseller to Her Majesty in 1950.
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- Dimensions
- 1.25ʺW × 7.5ʺD × 10.5ʺH
- Styles
- English Traditional
- Period
- Late 19th Century
- Country of Origin
- United Kingdom
- Item Type
- Vintage, Antique or Pre-owned
- Materials
- Leather
- Paper
- Condition
- Good Condition, Original Condition Unaltered, Some Imperfections
- Color
- Brown
- Condition Notes
- Very good; light wear commensurate with age and use (e.g. handling wear at extremities - edges/corner tips rubbed, leather covers … moreVery good; light wear commensurate with age and use (e.g. handling wear at extremities - edges/corner tips rubbed, leather covers sunned - varied, minimal sporadic foxing of a few leaf borders), strong square spines/tight bindings. A beautiful set. less