This lovely antique book of The Language and Poetry of Flowers was published by Milner and Company. The book is undated but there is a name and address written at the back of the book dated 1884. So the book is from the mid to late Victorian era.
The book is bound in dark brown cloth over bevelled boards, with stunning blind stamped decoration in black and gilt to the front board and spine. It's in very good condition but has undergone some restoration work with a cloth spine reback - a new cloth spine has been inserted under the old one (this can only be seen peeking out at the head of the spine). The corners show light wear and minor fraying to the cloth. The boards show minor marks and there is some shelf wear to the board edges - faint bumping and rubbing. The spine is lightly sunned with dulling to the gilt decoration.
Inside, the book features contemporary marbled endpapers and there is a name and address written at both the front and the back of the book (the one at the back is upside down so I wonder if they mistook it for the front originally). The pages show light age toning throughout, with occasional foxing and minor marking in places. and light foxing, with sporadic marking. The tissue guard for the frontispiece is creased. There are four absolutely beautiful colour plates inside, each with it's own tissue guard. There are some superficial cracks to the gutter in places but the pages remain tightly bound.
Dimensions approximately 14.2cm x 11.5cm x 2.5cm.
The book will arrive hand wrapped in patterned wallpaper and ribbon.
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 enough).