Beschreibung
small 4to. original black papier mache binding over a background of red, all edges gilt. viii, 176 pages. A CONNECTED NARRATIVE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ART, IN ITS PRIMEVAL PHASES IN EGYPT, CHINA, AND MEXICO; . AND ITS SUBSEQUENT PROGRESS TO THE PRESENT DAY. Assumed reprint edition of the first edition from 1852 published by Day & Son. (See Mclean's Victorian Publishers' Book-Bindings in Paper, p.58, for a reproduction of the first edition of 1852). Also see page 145 of Victorian Publishers' Bindings by Douglas Ball (1985). Original binding has very minor cracks in the papier-mache. A new spine has been constructed using black leather (early 20th century), with a new leather spine label with title in gilt. Gutters repaired. Some scattered foxing throughout the textblock. An attractive copy of a book rarely found in good condition. Chapters on the development of writing, its primeval stages, cuneatic systems, introduction into Europe, etc. Profusely illustrated with 30 illustrations (Frontispiece, unnumbered plate opposite the beginning of chapter 1, and 28 numbered plates), 13 in chromolithography. All colour plates are signed H.N.Humphreys. Lith.Day & Son. Lith.rs to the Queen. All black and white plates are signed 'Printed by Paul Jerrard, 111 Fleet St'. One of the largest of this unusual style of binding and one with an important text as well. The binding design is the same on both covers comprising a leaf and flower border. The center is occupied by a large foliage stem which surrounds the title. "Mr. Henry Noel Humphreys was born at Birmingham in 1810, and died, at his residence in Westbourne Square, London, after an illness of but a few days, on the 10th of June, 1879, aged 69 years. He was educated at King Edward's Grammar School, Birmingham, and on the Continent. After considerable artistic training in early life, he deserted art for literature, to which his contributions have been very numerous, especially in the domain of natural science. [.] In those connected with printing, the reproductions and facsimiles are, as we have remarked before, the most valuable features, as Mr. Humphreys did not possess, nor indeed profess to have, the special bibliographical or technical knowledge which would enable him to treat as an historian of the history of printing. His books in this department, however, command high prices. One of the most magnificent of the series, which, however, does not come within the scope of this Bibliography, although closely connected with it, is "The Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages: A History of Illuminated Books from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century". [.] Mr. Humphreys was a man of remarkably bright parts and ready wit, and although he connot be said to have contributed anything of value in a literary sense to the history of typography, his illustrations and facsimiles of its monuments, by their painstaking truthfulness, entitle him to the respect and gratitude of students of the subject." -Bigmore and Wyman, A Bibliography of Printing, page 353. original black papier mache binding over a background of red, all edges gilt. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 138543
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