This beautiful vintage edition of The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines by Mary Cowden Clarke was published by Bickers and Son in 1879. So the book is from the mid Victorian era. It's bound in brown cloth over bevelled boards, with beautiful blind stamped decoration in black and gilt to the front board and spine. The book has undergone restoration work - a cloth spine reback where a new cloth spine is inserted and the original spine is glued over the top to retain as many of the original features as possible. The text block has also been resewn.
Thanks to the restoration work, this book is ready to be read and enjoyed for many years to come. There is wear to the corners which has caused splitting to the cloth - the board is just peeking out from between the cloth. There is shelf wear to the board edges and the boards show minor marks and rubbing. The original spine is slightly darkened, with some loss to the ends and edges - the new spine can be seen peeking through.
Inside, the hinges have been reinforced with tape and there is a written name and address on the front free endpaper. There is also a discreet bookseller's stamp to the bottom corner of the front pastedown. Sadly there is damage to the half title page where the paper has stuck to the frontispiece and some tried to remove it. There is a written inscription on the reverse of the frontispiece. The pages have light age toning and occasional foxing/marking but the text is clear and bright.
The book features beautiful black and white illustration plates which make this an extra special read.
Dimensions approximately 19cm x 13cm x 4cm.
The book will be 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 bubbled wrap is biodegradable and the clear bubble wrap is 100% recyclable. I also reuse boxes when I feel it's appropriate (if the boxes are sturdy enough).