This beautiful Victorian edition of The Literary Bouquet Gathered from Favourite Authors was published by William P Nimmo in 1876 - so the book is from the mid Victorian era.
The book is bound in brown cloth with striking blind stamped decoration and gold gilt to the front board and spine. The text block edges are gold gilt and the boards are bevelled.
It's in remarkably good condition considering it's almost 150 years old but the corners show significant wear, with splitting and fraying to the cloth. The board edges are bumped and the boards show light marks and soiling. The spine shows minor rubbing and there is crushing to the spine ends.
Inside, there is a piece of paper glued to the front pastedown which is covering up a plate of some sort (the paper is torn and lifting in the bottom right corner). The pages are lightly age toned with sporadic foxing and marking. There are some pencilled scribbles to the back pastedown.
There are stunning black and white illustrations throughout which add to the charm of this Victorian book. It features a collection of well known poets and authors including Longfellow, Byron, George Eliot and Wordsworth. There is a stunning illuminated page at the front highlighting Nimmo's Elegant Gift Books.
Dimensions approximately 22cm x 17.5cm x 2.5cm.
The book will arrive hand wrapped in 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 bubbled 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).