Featured A book curiosity

Just a bit of show and tell. (My library has been boxed and stuffed, helter-skelter, in a closet for decades. I'm just now hauling things out and going through them.)

William Roscoe
Life of Lorenzo de Medici
Joseph Engelmann, Heidelberg, 1825

The pages have deckle edges and can vary in width upwards of 1/2". The signatures (clusters of pages) are minimally sewn to hold the everything together. The cover is a simple sheet of printed brown paper. I believe this is what a dealer would term "in original wraps".

This is how you would purchase a book at that time. You would take it to your bookbinder who would sew it together properly, trim it to size, and supply a cover matching the other books in your library.






(The book was originally published in 1795.)

 

Thanks for sharing. I am always learning here.

 

Interesting! I love books, but never new the details about the bookbinder.

 

Interesting topic, @moreotherstuff !

In trying to look for information about the series Collection of the Classic English Historians, it seems that there might have been 8 volumes published, with only two titles? Looks like you have the first 4 volumes there, comprising The Life of Lorenzo de Medici, by William Roscoe. There was also The Life and Pontificate of Leo the Tenth, also by William Roscoe. There were also 4 volumes of that title, which were Vols. 5-8 in the series.

While I haven't done a thorough search, that's what readily comes up. Just of minor interest to most, but I've always been interested in series that were planned and that fizzled out for one reason or another. From the title of the series I would have expected more authors and more titles.

 

Ah, here we go... this is called A Bibliography of Unfinished Books in the English Language (publ. 1915). The series is mentioned on page 56. Says there were just 8 volumes published.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015058390462;view=1up;seq=78

So what you have is a curiosity of sorts. At least, I was curious.

 

Most interesting, thanks.

 

Let me know what it says about Lorenzo's gem collecting. He was legendary.

 

I didn't go searching, but that is interesting information. The last page of volume 1 of this set shows some other books published by Engelmann: they are travel guides (in French). No mention of anything else in this series.

I wonder if this edition was "authorized".

Roscoe may be better know for his poem for children, "The Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast".

 

Interesting, I didn't know that either.

 

"The Grasshopper's Feast." Funny, I feel hungry all of a sudden....

 

Wonderful book on the history of the book -- The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski.

Debora

 

Agree... fascinating book on books.

 

Beautiful books and example. Anyone here ever have custom binding done?

 

Hi,
I had a book rebound years ago. I was a bit disappointed since it did not have the five ridges on the spine. Leather work was wonderful but the end papers were just drop dead gorgeous. It was very expensive but it was worth it. The book should last for a couple hundred years now.
greg

 

I've had a couple of books re-backed, but never had a custom binding made. I can't honestly say the cost of re-backing was justified for any book I ever owned. Could have just bought a better copy for less.

Its one thing to have a book bound to be consistent with other books in your library (I don't know how often that is done these days), and another to have a custom decorative binding applied. Those things can be works of art in their own right, and very expensive.

"the five ridges on the spine": 'raised cords' I think that's called.

 

I priced having books rebound by a recommended Boston bindery a few years ago, but didn't have any work done. I came away with the impression the cost would be in the neighborhood of $200 per book.

I don't remember, though, what size book that would have applied to nor what level of workmanship. Probably wrote it down, but not sure where my notes are.

 

WOW, $200 per book, pricey!

 

I once bought a paperback copy of Faust that had a homemade jacket. The book was shot and I didn't keep it, but I did keep the cover:

 

Yup.

I was probably asking about repairing/replacing the bindings on large-sized 19th century books, so it could well be that the price would be lower for smaller and other types of books. Don't really know, though.

 

My father-in-law bound my grandfather's 1930s copy of 'Pinocchio' back into it's original hardback binding. It had fallen completely out. Now it will last another 100 years; he did a nice job!