This beautiful antique edition of Habington's Castara features a full Morocco leather binding with embossed decoration to the boards and spine. The spine features five raised bands and the gilt text block edges feature a striking Gauffered pattern. Gauffering describes the act of applying a patterned decoration to the text block edges of a book. The book itself is undated but there is a written inscription inside dated 1894. I would estimate the book to be a bit earlier than this. This edition was originally published in 1812.
The book features a renowned collection of 17th century love poems and character sketches written by the English poet William Habington. The work was a tribute to his wife, whom he idealized under the name Castara.
The book is in very good condition, with light wear to the corners and spine edges/end. This has caused some loss to the surface of the leather, most noticeably to the raised bands and front joint. The top edge of the text block is a little dulled.
Inside, there are marbled endpapers and a written inscription on one of the preliminary blank pages. The pages show age toning and heavy foxing throughout.
Dimensions approximately 16.6cm x 10.8cm x 3cm.
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).