This striking edition of Nouveau Langage Des Fleurs was published in 1839. In English, it is The Language of Flowers, a popular way of sending messages to people in the 19th Century. Different flowers could be sent to represent different meanings.
It is bound in contemporary half cloth over marbled paper boards. it's in good condition but there is significant rubbing to the marbled paper and loss to the surface colour. The corners are lightly worn and crushing and there is marking and scuffing to the cloth. Crushing to the spine ends has caused minor splitting in the cloth; there is a slightly larger split to the top of the front joint.
Inside, there is cracking to the hinges revealing the binding thread but the pages remain tight to the binding. The pages show age toning and scattered foxing throughout. There is a split to the gutter between pages 118 and 119 - it's holding on by a thread! The book should have 22 plates plus 1 frontispiece but 2 plates are missing. So it still has 21 stunning hand coloured plates.
Dimensions approximately 14.8cm x 10.7cm x 3cm.
The book will arrive hand wrapped in patterned wallpaper and string. The bubble wrap I use is 100% biodegradable and the jiffy bags are recyclable.
Where possible, I use 100% recyclable paper tape, but sometimes I have to use clear plastic tape for extra