This sought after and beautiful complete collection of The Works of the Bronte Sisters was published by Smith Elder and Co in the 1890's. It has still has it's box which is wonderful to see.
The books are uniformly bound in pale blue cloth with blind stamped decoration to the front and gilt to the spine. They are in good condition but a previous owner has cleaned the cloth which has leached a bit of the colour from the cloth and removed some of the gilt from the spines. The spines are sunned and discoloured, appearing more green than blue. Crushing to the spine ends has caused minor splitting in the cloth. There is bumping to the board edges whilst the corners show light wear and crushing.
Inside, there is some cracking to the hinges and gutter in places but the pages remain tightly bound in the text block. There is light age toning and occasional foxing but the text is clear and bright. Each volume has a black and white frontispiece.
Each volume measures approximately 19cm x 13.5cm.
The books will arrive hand wrapped in patterned wallpaper and ribbon.
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).