This striking edition of Fighting the Flames; A Tale of the London Fire Brigade by RM Ballantyne was published by Ward, Lock and Co Ltd. The book is undated but from my own research I estimate it to have been published in the early 1900's. There is a presentation plate inside dated 1913.
The book is bound in cream cloth with stunning floral decoration to the front board and spine. The book is in good condition but does show significant soiling and marking to the cloth. There is foxing to the text block edges and crushing to the corners. The spine is a bit rubbed, whilst crushing to the spine ends has caused minor splitting in the cloth.
Inside, there is a presentation plate glued tot he front pastedown and a bookseller's sticker to the bottom corner. The front hinge is starting to show signs of cracking but the pages remain tightly bound. The pages show age toning and heavy foxing throughout. A past reader has dog eared some of the top corners, leaving creasing behind. There is also a bump to the bottom corner of the text block causing a few corners to fold in on themselves.
Dimensions approximately 19.4cm x 13cm x 2.5cm.
The book will arrive hand wrapped in bubble wrap, 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 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).