This rare and stunning antique edition of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen was published in 1899 by George Allen. It is a First Edition of this binding, and is an extremely collectable and popular edition with Jane Austen collectors. The cover design was by A.A Turbayne, a popular book cover designer with modern collectors. The front cover features his distinctive "AT" monogram in the shape of a scarab beetle. So many cover designs are unsigned by Turbayne can be recognised easily when the scarab beetle is spotted incorporated into the design.
A.A. Turbayne was a successful designer of book covers from the 1890s until roughly 1920. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but after living for some time in Canada, he then spent most of his working life in England. His earlier work, which which this book is part of, is very much in the art nouveau style.
***If you are thinking of ordering from overseas, please be aware that there will be customs fees to pay to the courier***
The book is bound in teal cloth with ornate gilt decoration to the front board and spine - it's very art nouveau in style. The top edge of the text block is gilt. It's rare to find this binding in such good condition and I'm excited to offer it for sale in my shop. The book does show a pronounced forward lean and the corners are bumped. The back board shows some light scuffing and faint scratching to the cloth, with some fading near the joint. The spine is faintly sunned and there is crushing to the spine ends. The text block edges show some foxing.
Inside, there is a written inscription on the front free endpaper and light tanning and marking to the endpapers. There is very slight cracking to the front hinge and the tissue guard for the frontispiece is missing. The pages show age toning and sporadic foxing, with the very occasional minor mark. There are some superficial cracks to the gutter in places with either the webbing or binding thread visible, but the pages remain tightly bound.
The book is filled with stunning black and white illustrations by Chris Hammond throughout.
Dimensions approximately 18.8cm x 13cm x 2.7cm.
The book will be wrapped in bubble wrap, and gift wrapped in patterned wallpaper and ribbon. This will then be securely packaged in a box with lots of eco friendly, biodegradable bubble wrap.