The Book of Gems: The Poets and Artists of Great Britain.
London: Saunders and Otley, 1836-38. Three octavo vols. 304; 304; 304pp. Engraved titles with vignettes, as well as nearly 150 engravings throughout the set. A testament to British literature and artistry, with the poetic pillars of Chaucer, Spenser, Donne, Shakespeare, Dryden, Burns, Wordsworth, Shelley, Coleridge, and myriad other writers comprising the anthology. Along with these are brief biographical sketches, facsimile autographs, and portraits rendered after paintings and designs by notable British artists like Turner, Bonington, Landseer, and Maclise. Gorgeously bound by Fazakerley of Liverpool in maroon morocco with giltwork, intricate rose onlays, moiré silk doublures, and gauffered edges highlighting three fore-edge vignettes of bucolic villages, seacoast towns, and storm-blown ships. Hint of wear to extremities, else fine, housed in a morocco-backed cloth folding case. Item #30489
Price: $25,000.00