This beautiful antique edition of Wild Flowers and Where to Find And How to Know Them by Spencer Thomson was published by George Routledge and Sons. The book itself is undated but there are two written inscriptions inside dated 1885. So the book is from the Victorian era.
The book is bound in mustard yellow cloth over bevelled boards with stunning blind stamped decoration in black and gilt to the front board and spine. It's in good condition but there is some old damp damage to the boards, which has leeched a bit of the colour from the cloth. The corners are worn and crushed and there is light bumping to the board edges. The spine ends also show crushing which has caused very minor splitting in the cloth.
Inside, there is a written inscription on the front free endpaper and another on the verso of the FFEP. There is slight cracking to the gutter at the title page and creasing to the top and bottom of the title page. The tissue guard for the frontispiece is missing. The pages are clean and bright with with only occasional foxing. There are some superficial cracks to the gutter in places but the pages remain tightly bound.
The book features 8 stunning colour plates - these have been collated and are complete. There are also numerous black and white line drawings within the text.
Dimensions approximately 18.8cm x 13.2cm x 2.8cm.
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).