This lovely edition of The Life of Charles Kingsley features a collection of his letters and memories of life - it was edited by his wife and published by London Macmillan and Co in 1899. It's bound in full tree calf leather, with marbling to the text block edges. The spine features five raised bands and gilt tooling.
Tree calf leather is one of my favourite types of binding in antique books - the leather is treated with acid to change it's colour and produce a beautiful tree like effect to the boards. Sadly tree calf leather began to decline in popularity before the First World War and by the 1920's, it was almost non existent. So it's nice to see a book from the late 20's in this binding.
It's in very good condition but there is some wear and minor loss to the leather at the corners. The boards have some light scuffing, and there is a more noticeable scuff to the back board which has taken a little of the shiny surface off. There is some minor rubbing and marking to the spine, and the top edge of the text block is dulled.
Inside, the endpapers are marbled to compliment the boards and the pages are clean and bright with only occasional foxing.
Dimensions approximately 18.5cm x 13cm x 3cm
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 enough).