This striking two volume edition of The Hesperides by Robert Herrick was published in 1891 by Charles Scribner's Sons for the Muses' Library. So the books are from the late Victorian era. The books are uniformly bound in blue cloth with ornate gilt decoration to the front board and spine.
They're in good condition for their age, with the main flaw being the sunning and darkening to the spine, with loss to the gilt. The spine ends are crushed and there are some minor marks to the boards. There is light wear to the corners and a small chip in the cloth at the bottom edge of the back board (volume one).
Inside, there are no inscriptions but the endpapers are noticeably tanned. One volume is missing its FFEP and the other has cracking to the front hint. Despite this, the pages remain tightly bound. The pages show light age toning and the page edges are rough cut which is a wonderful feature in old book.
Dimensions for each volume approximately 16.8cm x 10.5cm x 3.1cm.
The book will arrive hand wrapped in patterned wallpaper and string.
I use a range of eco friendly, 100% recyclable jiffy bags and boxes, and whenever possible I use brown paper tape. The green bubble wrap is oxo-degradable and the clear bubble wrap is 100% recyclable. I also reuse boxes when I feel it's appropriate (if the boxes are sturdy