This little treasure of a book features a collection of verse, watercolours and drawings - dated 1902 - 1915. The book was owned by Ethel (I haven't been able to work out her surname).
The book is bound in full leather, with gilt lettering to the front; all edges gilt. It's in very good condition but there is some loss to the leather at the head of the spine and minor splitting to the tail. The corners are worn and the spine is sunned and rubbed.
Inside, there are floral endpapers and gilt inner dentelles. There is slight cracking to the hinges but the pages remain tightly bound. The book contains...four watercolours, three pen/ink drawings, three pages with signatures/autographs and eight pages of verse/rhyme. The rest of the pages are blank. The most exciting page is probably the drawing of Chawton House (stately home of Jane Austen's brother Edward, and near to the cottage where she spent a large part of her life).
Dimensions approximately 12.5cm x 8.8cm x 1.4cm.
The book will arrive hand wrapped in patterned paper 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 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).