Featured Help w/Identifying and Describing 1821 ed. Dante's Divine Comedy

hi everyone. i recently bought this 3 volume set of old books. it's Dante's Divine Comedy in Italian. i bought them for resale and i'm realizing i don't know any of the technical terminology involved in explaining and describing them. I thought they were bound in velum, but i'm seeing where velum book covers aren't usually as hard. what would be the best way to describe the bindings? what are the little stitches in the corners called? when i first found these i could find only one other example of this edition online. it's bound and looks completely different. i'm wondering if this would be considered a better or "deluxe" edition of these books? i think they're in very nice condition for their age. Also, they measure 9.5" by 6.25". i doubt if they're worth a fortune, but i'm hoping to turn a profit with them. really any information would be greatly appreciated...thanks

 

Interesting provenance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_Spencer_Umfreville_Pickering

Debora

 

He must have collected books as well.

https://www.thomasrarebooks.com/product/70185/CONTES-MORAUX

Debora

 

You saw these sales records for these same editions then? Buyer would have selected binding depending on budget and taste.

https://www.maisonbibelot.com/uk/au...-1-131323?action=reset#iframeFullscreenZoom-1

https://www.lyonandturnbull.com/auc...d5E7rhEF_UHiogdIw8DSqNJTO93BKKw4IS8xN-B97dTo5

Debora

 

At the time these were published the buyer would have had them custom bound in a style that matched other books in their library, so different sets of the same edition may look quite different.

Vellum is a type of parchment made from calfskin. The process for producing vellum/parchment involves degreasing, stretching and scraping the skin, but it is not tanned. It often retains a noticeable grain (the pattern of hair follicles). It can be used unsupported - "limp" - or can be used wrapped over stiff paper boards.

The binding of your books could also be tanned leather. Calfskin was most common, but sheepskin and goatskin have also been used. It is not easy to tell which yours may be based only on your photos. Again, the leather would be used over paper boards. You would probably be safe describing them simply as leather bound.

Here is a short video explaining the anatomy of a book -



And a glossary of book terms, and some more information on bindings -

https://www.abebooks.com/books/rarebooks/collecting-guide/understanding-rare-books/glossary.shtml#B

https://www.abebooks.com/books/rare...nding-rare-books/understanding-bindings.shtml

I do not know what term would be used for the little stitches on the corners of the joints (the exterior of the hinges).

You should be sure to include a mention of the bookplate of Percival Spencer Umfreville Pickering. Associations can sometimes increase the value, or at least draw attention. And be sure to collate the books, checking to make sure all pages and illustrations are present. Also, look for any markings or notations which might affect condition.

 

Here is a complete set of the 1826 edition by the same publisher, with an asking price -

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=32347383715&cm_sp=Searchmod-_-NullResults-_-BDP

 

thank you. i did see the first wikipedia page on Percival. i didn't see the second two. that's in the range that i was kinda' assuming these might be worth. i think my volumes are a little nicer. what i'm wondering is, would those editions be considered better quality? i know the bindings are a big deal. also, it does look like Percival might have been a book collector. does the former owner make the books better? i'm new to book collecting(and dealing).

 

Interesting that the books have his bookplate in them, but you also show a title page where he has written P. Pickering in ink. Perhaps the plates were acquired later than the acquisition of the books.

I like these indicators of previous ownership, but not all collectors do.

 

i did find one page in volume 1 with some notes. otherwise, they're clean. one of the condition elements with these books is, volume 1 shows some age and wear, but volumes 2 and 3 look and feel like they weren't really opened a lot. the only possible missing page is the tissue page separating the illustration in volume 1 from the publishing info. that paper is present in volumes 2 and 3. i do have a question: is the little printed piece with Pickering's name what is known as the "bookplate?"

 

Yes.

 

I have a 9 volume set of the complete works of Alexander Pope, 1766, bound in calf, bookplates for Eustace Rolfe, Heacham, Norfolk. Only the first volume seems like it was ever really opened. A literature teacher told me that if you were well to do you just had to have things like this on the shelves of your library; you didn't have to read them.

 

I call that "Charlie Tuna taste."



Debora

 

I came to work in one of our mall booths one day, and found a woman sitting on the floor with a pile of some of our more expensive art books strewn around her. She had removed and set aside most of their dust jackets. I asked her (exercising all of my willpower not to explode) what she was doing. She explained that she was working for a client who wanted books to decorate their house, and she wanted to see how they would look without their jackets which "made them look cheap".

 

it is what attracted me to them. usually when you find antique books, they're in destroyed condition. these show their age, but they are in very nice, readable condition. they would look beautiful on a shelf.

 

now that's some badass willpower......!!!!

 

If that's what she was doing to the bookshelves, imagine what the rest of the house looked like!

Debora

 

I love finding old bookplates and/or signatures (especially with dates) in old books that I acquire.... hence my practice of adding my own "Ex Libris" stamp to my books. Hopefully someone someday will think of me and wonder who I am...

 

I came across the Pope set in a hospital charity shop when I was in college. Think I only had $5 on me & didn't like walking around without at least a couple of dollars, so only took a couple of them to the counter. The nice lady explained that if I didn't buy them all then, the others would no longer be there the next time I came in as some decorator would buy them, just for the look. Although it left me with only 50 cents, bought all 9.

 

My mother had bookplates made using my full, pretentious name, & she put them in the good quality children's books she started to buy, purportedly for me, when I was already too old for most of them. I cringe when I imagine some stranger opening one of them.

 

I've gotta say... I think that's lovely! Sorry you find it cringe-worthy.