cedric chivers (284 resultados)

First Beardsley edition, one of 1,500 copies on ordinary paper; another 300 were printed on Dutch handmade paper. This copy in a bright and spectacular example of a "vellucent" binding, by Cedric Chivers of Bath, unsigned but a characteristic example of this style. Chivers invented a way to treat vellum so that it became translucent ("vellucent"): the cover design would be painted on a separate sheet and then a thin sheet of this translucent vellum would be laid over it; gilt tooling would then be applied over the top of this. In his catalogue of Books in Beautiful Bindings (c. 1905), Chivers describes the Beardsley Morte D'Arthur as "bound in whole vellucent from a design by the illustrator of the book. A figure panel enclosed in a floral border". The hand-painted cover illustrations for this set reproduce two of Beardsley's designs, volume one depicting "How Four Queens Found Launcelot Sleeping" (p. 184) and volume two "The Achieving of the Sangreal" (frontispiece). "Commissioned by British publisher J. M. Dent in 1892 and first published in twelve monthly magazine instalments between June 1893, and mid-1894, Aubrey Beardsley's Morte Darthur was one of the most original and certainly one of the most controversial of the nineteenth-century artistic reinterpretations of Malory. Although his illustrations for the Morte established Beardsley as the voice of the 1890s, he was until that time largely an unknown young artist. La Morte Darthur proved to be an immediate sensation upon publication and the impact of Beardsley's Arthurian illustrations was tremendous. Today, Beardsley's illustrations for the Morte, which constituted almost half his lifetime's artistic output, survive as the first example of modern Arthurian book illustration, and they remain arguably the best experimental visual reinterpretation of the Arthurian world. With their bold lines, strong visual themes, and numerous memorable but unconventional details, the Morte 'pictures' (which is how Beardsley himself referred to them) created an important - although admittedly idiosyncratic - symbology and iconography. Often shockingly overt in their sexuality and eroticism, the illustrations rejected the aesthetic of the Pre-Raphaelites who were Beardsley's original mentors and offered a revisionist and parodic treatment of their medievalism. Ultimately, Beardsley went far beyond his original intention to 'flabbergast the bourgeois' of his day; he also challenged generations of readers and artists to view Arthurian society through his own modernist lens" (Lupack, chapter 4). This is a masterpiece of book illustration in a striking binding. Ray, The Illustrator and the Book in England from 1790-1914, 314. Barbara Tepa Lupack, Illustrating Camelot, D. S. Brewer, 2008. 2 volumes, large square octavo (250 x 214 mm). Contemporary full vellum over bevelled boards by Cedric Chivers of Bath for Bumpus of London, gilt panelled spines with hand-painted art nouveau-style lettering and scrolling floriate motifs, below which, on a field of gilt dots, an overall pattern of stylised roses and rose leaves (volume I) and tulips and tulip leaves (volume II), sides with two-line gilt border enclosing a frame of hand-painted intertwining roses and rose leaves (volume I) and intertwining tulips and tulip leaves (volume II), both on a field of gilt dots, panel on each front cover with a hand-painted scene taken from Beardsley's designs, back covers with three-line gilt panels, top edges gilt, others untrimmed, partially uncut, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers. Gravure frontispieces, 18 full page wood engravings (including five double-page), numerous text illustrations, and approximately 350 repeated designs for chapter headings and borders, all by Aubrey Beardsley. Front joint of Vol. 2 superficially cracked but firm, short cracks to both spine heads, dampstains to joints and lower extremities, a touch of rubbing to the front of Vol. 1, vellum a little soiled but still bright and handsome, a touch of occasional foxing to contents and some light offsetting from frontispieces, else internally clean. A very good set, bright and fresh.

A superb copy of the Rubáiyát, finely bound by Cedric Chivers after an art nouveau design by the illustrator Herbert Granville Fell (1872-1951). The front cover depicts a woman pouring wine from a jug; the rear depicts a tree, with a singing bird in the leaves and "a flask of wine and book of verse" underneath. Fitzgerald's translation of the Rubáiyát was first published in 1859; he continued to revise the poem throughout his life, publishing his fourth and final edition in 1879. The present publication prints the text of Fitzgerald's first and fourth editions, as well as his preface and notes, with an appendix on "variations between the second, third, and fourth editions". Octavo (207 x 147 mm). Finely bound by Cedric Chivers of Bath in full brown modelled calf, title to spine etched by hand, covers moulded after design by Herbert Granville Fell, spine and covers dotted and ruled in gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Housed in a custom cloth folding box. Binding fresh, outer leaves lightly foxed, a near-fine copy.

210 x 145 mm. (8 1/4 x 5 1/2"). 112 pp.Translated by Edward FitzGerald. A SUPERB MOLDED CALF BINDING DESIGNED BY H. GRANVILLE FELL AND EXECUTED BY CHIVERS OF BATH (stamp-signed in gilt on rear turn-in), upper cover with a graceful Art Nouveau design featuring a woman with long hair and artfully draped robe holding an urn on one shoulder, the figure framed by curving vines bearing grapes, a gilt-tooled nimbus-like medallion behind her; lower cover with a stylized tree, a book, flute, and jug at its base flanked by two large flowers, a large singing bird perched in the center of the branches on a gilt-stippled background, the tree very lightly washed with green; flat spine with elongated gilt cartouche containing blind-tooled vertical titling, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. In the (somewhat worn but solid) original drop-front box lined with felt. â Just the most trivial signs of use to the leather (a hint of wear, a touch of soiling), but AN EXCEPTIONALLY PLEASING COPY, clean, fresh, and bright internally, and in a binding with no condition issues to detract from its remarkable beauty. This is an especially lovely Art Nouveau binding with unusual features and tremendous aesthetic appeal, produced by two of England's most talented book artists: the illustrator H. Granville Fell and the binder Cedric Chivers. Fell (1872-1951) was a highly successful illustrator, recognizable by the sinuous lines and pastel colors of his designs. It is likely that the leather modelling here is the work of Chivers' employee Alice Shepherd, who was credited (in a binder's ticker) with creating a nearly identical binding for another copy of the Rubaiyat previously in our inventory. Shepherd trained with Mary Ann Bassett, who specialized in modelled leather bindings on which, as here, the design was sometimes heightened with color and gilt. Shepherd went to work for Chivers in 1897, supervising a crew of five women making cut and modelled leather bindings. According to Tidcombe, "her method was to mark the design on the damp leather, and then scrape the under (flesh) side of the leather with an ivory tool, to make a hollow within the area of the design. The hollow was filled with cement, and then, by manipulation and pressure, the design was brought into relief on the upper (hair) side of the leather. Any gilding, colouring, or finishing was done after the book was bound." Our binding is quite appropriate for the perennially popular Persian poem, as it evokes the work's most famous lines, delineating as they do the basic necessities of life: "A Book of Verses underneath the Bough / A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Breadâ "and Thou." It is difficult to overstate the quiet and subtle beauty of the design here.

A beautiful, bright example of a "vellucent" binding by Cedric Chivers, with floral arabesque decorations and several choice mother-of-pearl inlays. Chivers (1853-1929), one of the most successful bookbinders of the turn of the century, developed a new and distinctive technique for binding books in the 1890s. His elaborate cover designs were painted on paper and then covered by vellum, which had been treated in order to become thin and translucent ("vellucent"). Sometimes exotic materials, such as mother-of pearl, were also added underneath the vellum, and gilt tooling applied over the top. Chivers patented his method in 1898 and used it to create some of the most beautiful books of the turn of the century, and his style became closely associated with the arts and crafts movement. Fitzgerald's translation of the Rubáiyát was first published in 1859; he continued to revise the poem throughout his life, publishing his fourth and final edition in 1879. The present publication prints the text of Fitzgerald's first and fourth editions, as well as his preface and notes, with an appendix on "variations between the second, third, and fourth editions". Small quarto (203 x 147 mm). Finely bound in contemporary full vellum by Cedric Chivers of Bath over light bevelled boards, hand-painted in his distinctive "vellucent" style in blue, green, and red, elaborately decorated with floral arabesques and mother-of-pearl inlays, dotted in gilt, spine and front cover lettered in manuscript, twin gilt borders to covers and vellum doublures, yellow marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Housed in a dark blue cloth flat-back box by the Chelsea Bindery. Hint of rubbing to vellum, a fine copy.

Hardcover. Condición: Fine. Illustrated Edition. 100 volumes, foolscap 8vo (6 7/8" x 4 1/4"), engraved frontispiece & title vignette for each volume. Full crushed red-brown morocco, gilt backs in six compartments, gilt lettering in the second & third, five faux flat bands, gilt dated at foot "Cadell 1829", sides blind stamped in frame & panel with center & corner ornaments, all edges gilt marbled endpapers. Bound by Cedric Chivers Bath England with his pallet signature on the verso of the final binder's blank in each volume. Extraordinary set in remarkably fine condition. Sheet & plates clean with just a touch of foxing to prelims, unmarked, complete. About ten feet, 3 inches shelf space. Correct shipping will be determined at time of sale. H9136.

190 x 125 mm. (7 1/2 x 5"). viii, 900, [2] pp., [1] leaf (ads). A VERY CHARMING LIGHT GREEN "VELLUCENT" BINDING BY CEDRIC CHIVERS (stamp-signed on rear turn-in), COVERS AND SPINE WITH BEAUTIFULLY EXECUTED ART NOUVEAU PEN-AND-INK WATERCOLOR DESIGN BY DOROTHY CARLETON SMYTH, upper cover showing King Arthur kneeling in in royal robes, the sword Excalibur held in front of him, a small dragon (symbolizing his surname, "Pendragon") sitting beside it, and multi-colored long-stemmed lilies and other blossoms in the background, rear cover showing Queen Guinevere kneeling to face her husband, her hands resting on a book of hours, a thorny branch of colorful flowers and foliage arching over her, smooth spine with white rectangle bearing gilt title, a lily stalk entwined with flowering vine below it, gilt-ruled turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. With a frontispiece portrait of the author. Front pastedown with engraved armorial bookplate of Michael, Earl of Rosse. For the binding: Tidcombe, "Women Bookbinders 1880-1920," pl. 11. â Two small brown spots near head of front board, boards tending to splay slightly (as virtually always with a vellum binding like this), endpapers a bit foxed, other trivial imperfections, but AN EXTREMELY PLEASING COPY despite its defects, the text and lovely binding with few signs of use. This collection of Tennyson's verse, including his Arthurian "Idylls of the King," is aptly bound in one of Cedric Chivers' luminous "vellucent bindings" designed by Scottish artist Dorothy Carleton Smyth, one of five women who worked on the design, coloring, and illumination of this Chivers specialty. According to Tidcombe, "most Vellucent bindings were designed by H. Granville Fell, but the woman most frequently employed for this kind of work was probably Dorothy Carleton Smyth." The binding here is enormously attractive: its overall quiet pastel is punctuated by flowers with brilliantly stippled stamens encircling the central figures of Arthur on the front cover, straight-backed and thrusting his long sword into the ground, and Guinevere, 35 years his junior, kneeling at her prie-dieu on the back cover, her hair cascading nearly to her knees. It is all precise and elegant and pretty. Smyth (1880-1933) studied with Walter Crane at the Manchester School of Art before attending the Glasgow School of Art, where she concentrated on costume design, although she "became accomplished in a number of mediums," according to the GSA Archives. The design here is typical of the Art Nouveau style pioneered by the Glasgow School, with elongated figures, sinuous lines, and stylized floral decoration. Smyth returned to the Glasgow school as a teacher in 1914, and became head of the commercial art department in 1927. She had just been selected as the school's first woman director in 1933, but died before she could succeed to the post. Cedric Chivers (1853-1929) established binding premises in his native Bath after an inspiring visit to the Paris Exhibition of 1878, and a short time later, after hearing a lecture by Cyril Davenport on the 18th century painted vellum bindings of Edwards of Halifax, he began producing his own work in this tradition, creating what he called the "vellucent" binding. The innovative part of these bindings, as seen here, was accomplished by rendering vellum transparent, then placing it over painted pieces of paper, thereby protecting the surface of the paper from soiling and abrasion. Prideaux says that the process achieves the effect of enriched enamel. Former owner Michael Parsons, Earl of Rosse (1906-79), was an Anglo-Irish peer and a Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dublin. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and of the Society of Antiquaries.

Hardcover. Condición: Very Good. Limited Edition. London: Macmillan & Co., Limited, 1907, Globe Edition. Bound by Cedric Chivers of Bath (gilt-signed to the rear paste down), full vellum, top-edge gilt. Full decorated vellum, 7 inches tall. A superb example of a vellucent binding by CEDRIC CHIVERS of Bath. The vellum is decorated with gilt and original watercolour designs. Inner gilt decoration to the vellum turn-ins and gilt top edge. Beautiful binding in very good condition, marbled endpapers, gilt decorated spine and boards, board edges. viii, 644pp plus 1 page index and blank. James Edwards of Halifax patented a technique for painted vellum bindings in 1785. He soaked the area to be painted with water to which a small quantity of pearl ash had been added and pressed the vellum which made the skin virtually transparent. The vellum was then painted to the flesh side of the skin, so that when the book was bound, the painting was protected between the vellum and the cover of the book . Chivers revisited the technique of using transparent vellum, but bound over painted paper panels, giving the name vellucent to this technique Brian Cole [Aspire to the Beautiful p78]. In his large bindery at Portway, Bath, Chivers employed about forty women for folding, sewing, mending, and collating work, and in addition, five more women worked in a separate department, to design, illuminate, and colour vellum for book decoration, and to work on embossed leather. These five were Dorothy Carleton Smyth, Alice Shepherd, Miss J.D. Dunn, Muriel Taylor, and Agatha Gales. Most Vellucent bindings were designed by H. Granville Fell, but the woman most frequently employed for this kind of work was probably Dorothy Carleton Smyth [Marianne Tidcombe, Women Bookbinders 1880-1920, p. 86]. This binding was executed by Dorothy C Smyth and is on page 38 Plate 11 of Tidcombe s book. This similar binding recently sold at auction in Ireland for 4000 euros with a few more faults than the one for sale here. Provenance: no inscriptions or bookplates. 7 ¾ inches tall. Condition Report Externally Spine very good condition gilt titles to a cream panel, gilt filet to the top and base and vellucent painting with gilt decoration. Joints very good condition. Corners very good condition gently worn. Boards very good condition King Arthur Pendragon to the front board with gilt titles, vellucent painting of King Arthur, floral painting with gilt decoration, Guinevere His Queen gilt titles, vellucent painting to the rear board. Page edges good condition top edge gilt, others tanned. See above and photos. Internally Hinges very good condition solid. Paste downs good condition marbled, with vellum and gilt lined vellum turn-ins, the rear marbled paper rubbed and worn, possibly from the removal of a label. End papers good condition marbled, tanned and foxed subsequently. Title good condition tanned. Pages good condition tanned, some foxing and marks. Binding good condition solid, attractive. See photos. Publisher: see above. Publication Date: 1907 Binding: Hardback.

A unique calligraphic manuscript copy of Arnold's poem "The Forsaken Merman" by the renowned Scottish artist Dorothy Carleton Smyth (1880-1933), a beautiful example of her juvenile work, each of the exquisitely rendered illustrations signed with her "Dodo" emblem. This copy was bound at the Mayfield Binderies, Heaton Moor, located just outside of Stockport, Greater Manchester. Smyth (1880-1933) trained under Walter Crane at the Manchester School of Art between 1893 and 1897 and his influence can be seen in the fine illustrations within ornamental borders in the present work. She studied at the Glasgow School of Art between 1898 and 1904, her work becoming recognizably her own, as well as taking on traits distinctive of that school of artists. Smyth is especially noted for her work on vellucent bindings for Cedric Chivers, the present manuscript appealingly showing her early experimentation with designing on vellum. Smyth travelled and exhibited widely, having a particular passion for costume design, and worked in theatres in Stockholm, Paris, and London and for several touring Shakespearean festivals. She later took on teaching roles at the Glasgow School of Art, specializing in teaching miniature painting and the history of costume and armour; she was set to become director of the school before her untimely death aged just 52. This melancholy poem of a merman whose wife leaves the sea, called by the Easter bells, to live on the land, was first published in 1849 in The Strayed Reveller and other Poems "under the pseudonym A, for fear, it was said, of bringing [Arnold's] father's name into disrepute. In fact, his family was surprised at the evidence of seriousness, yearning, and grief the book displayed" (ODNB). Provenance: the arts and crafts collection of Kirkton House near Montrose in Scotland. Large octavo (248 x 194 mm), manuscript pp. 26 all in black and red on J. Whatman watermarked paper (dated 1894). Contemporary vellum over bevelled boards by the Mayfield Binderies of Heaton Moor, manuscript titles and decorative pictorial design in red and black to front board, untrimmed. Housed in a burgundy cloth flat-back box by the Chelsea Bindery. Title vignette and 6 full-page elaborate pen and ink illustrations within decorative borders signed "Dodo" with a dodo design, title page and dedication device in colour and ink, historiated opening initial in red and black, all others in red. A little rubbed and darkened, front board titles fading, boards slightly splayed, silk cloth reinforcement to three gutters, internally bright and without marks of ownership. A very good copy.

FIRST EDITION in book form. 215 x 140 mm. (8 1/2 x 5 1/2). vii, [1] (blank), 190 pp. Without the leaf of publisher's ads. VERY ATTRACTIVE SCARLET CRUSHED MOROCCO BY CEDRIC CHIVERS (stamp-signed on rear turn-in) ca. 1911, covers framed by one blind and two gilt fillets, upper cover with INLAID PAINTED VELLUCENT ESCUTCHEON with the arms of the city of Rochester within a "tiled" gilt frame, the inlay enclosed by Art Nouveau floral design incorporating a heart motif, an onlaid citron morocco heart at the foot of the design, three raised bands dividing the spine into two small compartments, slightly larger compartment with gilt titling, and an elongated compartment with inlaid vellucent and gilt escutcheon displaying the arms of the county of Kent, within similar Art Nouveau tooling featuring an onlaid citron heart, turn-ins ruled in gilt, with dot cornerpieces, leather hinges, red watered silk endleaves, all edges gilt. Frontispiece portrait, engraved vignette title, and 12 plates (as called for) by S. L. Fildes, EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED with reproductions of a black & white portrait of Fildes and an engraved portrait of John Forster (both taken from contemporary publications?), a reduced reproduction of the original green paper wrapper cover (all three of these mounted in heavy stock frames), additional calligraphed title page noting extra-illustrations, 16 ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS, FOUR OF THESE WATERCOLORS, 13 dry-point, all but one mounted in heavy stock frames (one drawn directly on heavy stock), all captioned, and all with tissue guards. Front flyleaf with embossed ex-libris of Dana C. Bradford. With "The Last Book," a seven-page excerpt from Forster's "Life of Dickens," mounted in frames at rear, following a handwritten section title page. â Slight rippling of some of the inserted leaves, text faintly yellowed because of paper stock (as no doubt in all copies), perhaps a whisper of wear to the binding, but still and easily a very fine copy. In terms of content, illustration, binding, and condition, this item is obviously of very considerable appeal. Dickens' final, unfinished novel, "Edwin Drood," is a murder mystery that remains unsolved to this day. Set in a lightly fictionalized version of Rochester, near which Dickens was living, the plot involves a marriage engagement between the two orphans Drood and Rosa Budd, made by their parents and distasteful to both of them. When Drood disappears, suspicion falls heavily on Neville, another orphaned young man, who is in love with Rosa. Neville has the reader's sympathy, and we can only hope that Drood's sinister and scheming uncle Jasper is the culprit. A distinguished artist who did many famous portraits in his later years, Samuel Luke Fildes (1844-1927) began as an illustrator known especially for powerful black and white images of social realism; his career was measurably advanced by his selection as the artist to execute the plates in "Edwin Drood." Cedric Chivers opened his Bath bindery in the 1880s, producing various kinds of fine decorative bindings, but specializing in a "vellucent" binding based on the 18th century painted vellum work of Edwards of Halifax. Here, he has used the vellucent technique to create the shields with the arms of Rochester and Kent inlaid on the cover and spine. The anonymous watercolors here are extremely attractive, being skillfully done in pleasing colors. They are mostly depictions of the novel's localities, generally in Rochester.

A Most Unusual Cosway-Style Binding by Cedric Chivers of Bath NOLHAC, Pierre de. COSWAY-STYLE BINDING. CHIVERS, Cedric, binder. Marie Antoinette. London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1905. Reprinted from the Illustrated Edition of Marie Antoinette the Queen by permission of Messrs Goupil & Company. Octavo (8 1/8 x 5 3/4 inches; 208 x 146 mm.). [viii], 268 pp. Title-page printed in red & black. A most unusual Cosway-Style Binding ca. 1920 by Cedric Chivers for the London Bookseller Chas. J. Sawyer, stamp signed in gilt on rear turn-in. Full vellum over beveled boards, front cover richly decorated with a swirling floral gilt design with the flowers hand painted in red and green (colors faded). In the lower right-hand corner is an oval inlay of black morocco with the monogram of Marie Antoinette in gilt surrounded by leaves and the Queen's crown in gilt. At the top left-hand corner is a very fine hand-painted portrait miniature of Marie Antoinette, set under glass within a gilt metal frame surrounded by gilt dots and four sets of three red semi-precious stones (one stone missing). The rear cover with a similar floral design and the arms of Marie Antoinette in gilt. Smooth spine withsimilar gilt floral design, black morocco label lettered in gilt. Decorative gilt board edges and turn-ins, cream watered silk liners and endleaves, all edges rough gilt. Housed in the original velvet-lined blue buckram clamshell case, spine with black morocco label lettered in gilt. Fine. The quality of the miniature is quite superb and could most possibly have been painted by Miss C.B. Currie. We have owned this book once before in 1990. We have handled many Chivers bindings over the past fifty-five years but we have never seen another Cosway-Style binding by Cedric Chivers. Cedric Chivers (1853 - 1929), a seven-term mayor of Bath, first exhibited and patented his "vellucent" method of decorative bookbinding in 1898. "In his large bindery at Portway, Bath, [Cedric] Chivers employed about forty women for folding, sewing, mending, and collating work, and in addition, five more women worked in a separate department, to design, illuminate, and colour vellum for book decoration, and to work on embossed leather. These five were Dorothy Carl[e]ton Smyth, Alice Shepherd, Miss J.D. Dunn, Muriel Taylor, and Agatha Gales. Most Vellucent bindings were designed by H. Granville Fell, but the woman most frequently employed for this kind of work was probably Dorothy Carl[e]ton Smyth" (Marianne Tidcombe, Women Bookbinders 1880-1920, p. 86). Chas J. Sawyer (1906-1990) was a London bookselling firm specializing in the finest books. It is most likely that they supplied the miniature to Cedric Chivers when placing the binding order. Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria and was the penultimate child and youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I. She became dauphine of France in May 1770 at age 14 upon her marriage to Louis-Auguste, heir apparent to the French throne. On 10 May 1774, her husband ascended the throne as Louis XVI and she became queen.

Vellum. Condición: Fine. W Russell Flint Ilustrador. A finely bound copy of Thomas A Kempis' 'Of the Imitation of Christ'. In a beautiful vellucent binding by Cedric Chivers of Bath. A fantastic vellucent binding by the noted bookbinder Cedric Chivers. Chivers created this technique of bookbinding which involved an artist painting on a thin medium. The designs included inlays of mother of pearl or gold leaf. This was then overlaid with a specially-treated sheet of vellum so that the designs were translucent. There are some beautiful inlays to this work on the front board, including a pearl inlay to the 'I' of the title.Chivers' associate H Granville Fell designed many of the bindings, and the shop hired a number of female artists including Dorothy Carleton Smyth to paint the scenes onto the binding.The design to this board consists of four kneeling saints within a decorative surround reminiscent of medieval illuminated manuscripts.Binder's stamp to the rear pastedown, Cedric Chivers of Bath.This is a 1908 reprint of the crown 4to special edition issued by Chatto and Windus in London.Translated into English from the original Latin by Richard Whytford and illustrated throughout from designs by W Russell Flint. In a full vellucent binding. Held in custom clipcase. Externally, in an excellent condition. A few light marks to the spine. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright. Blind stamp to the verso of front endpaper, 'From the Library of Dana C Bradford'. Pages are bright and clean. Fine. book.

Hardcover. Condición: Good. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Later Edition, not dated. Beautiful and elaborate vellucent binding (hand painted to the vellum and covered with a thin layer of vellum to seal the image) undoubtedly by Cedric Chivers of Bath, but unsigned, with an angel to the front cover, painted and gilt decorated. The front paste down is dedicated to Jaqueline Margaret Ingham Stokes June 6th 1933 . In its own felt lined slipcase. Approximately 6 inches tall. Condition Report Externally Spine very good condition vellucent painting of an angel, title to the spine, slightly faded. Joints very good condition. Corners very good condition. Boards very good condition angel to the front board with mother of peral 'halo' and the title Holy Bible to the spine. Page edges very good condition all gilt. See above and photos. Internally Hinges very good condition very tight and sound, possibly never used. Paste downs very good condition both paste downs with vellum turn-ins decorated in gilt filet, both with a gilt lined panel, front paste down with the dedication. End papers good condition plain thicker card. Title good condition. Pages good condition clean. Binding very good condition. See photos. Publisher: see above. Publication Date: Not Dated Binding: Hardback.

4to. Superbly bound by Cedric Chivers (signed in gilt pallet rear dentelle, "Cedric Chivers Bath) in full crushed brown morocco, with tan morocco heart onlays, and with a magnificent vellucent landscape capturing a running brook, in watercolor, with part of the brook inlaid in mother of pearl to give it a reflective quality, on the upper section of the cover; and below that an attractive vellucent design with inlaid red dots and tilt stippling containing a ribbon and wreath patterning in watercolor, with title and author. Spine with heart onlays and superb Nouveau style gilt patterning; gilt dentelles with tulips at both corners. Spine slightly sunned, very slight foxing, a near fine example of one a very attractive Chivers binding. LIMITED EDITION DELUXE, signed by Allingham, with 81 color plates by Allingham and other artists of the day. Text descriptions and memoir by Marcus B. Huish. Helen Allingham (1848-1926) was an acclaimed British watercolorist who married, William Allingham, the Irish poet and editor who became closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelites.

First edition. 4to. Finely bound by Cedric Chivers, c.1905, stamp signed to rear turn in. Full green morocco, with five inlaid vellucent panels, containing miniature watercolours reproducing Rackham's imagery painted on vellum. The upper cover is further decorated with an Art Nouveau design in gilt and two circular green morocco onlays, accentuated by gilt punched dots. The smooth spine is decorated with Art Nouveau gilt decoration and circular amber morocco onlay. Single line gilt border on covers and a heart-shaped gilt design to the rear. Gilt ruled turn-ins and patterned endpapers. All edges gilt. A very good copy indeed of this extraordinary production, morocco binding with very slight rubs to the joints, slight fading to some panels and occasional foxing to the preliminary and terminal pages. Fifty-one colour plates by Rackham are mounted onto green art paper and protected by tissue guards, apart from the frontis they are all mounted together at the end of the text. One of the double page plates has a slight corner crease to the white border. Rip van Winkle was Rackham's first major colour plate work and the first of the opulent Christmas Gift books. Its beauty and popularity began the "Golden Age of Book Illustration," in which publishers and illustrators competed to present the most beautiful volumes to the gift market. Cedric Chivers introduced these "vellucent" style bindings in order to assist the production of beautiful hand painted watercolour bindings, which prior to this point had been subject to damage, smudging and wear. The new process involved painting an image in ink and watercolour on paper and then a thin layer of stretched vellum was laid over the illustration and sealed, thus protecting the painting. Gilt decoration, lettering and borders were then embossed onto the covers. Chivers described the process thus, ".The designs were first painted or drawn in colours with as full a palette or as subdued a richness of colouring as the artist chose to employ. Various iridescent materials and precious metals, pared to the thinness of paper or even of gold leaf, according to the fancy of the designer, were often introduced to enhance the richness of the scheme; mother-o'-pearl, shell, beetles' wings, these and other beautiful materials were utilized in the carrying out of the designs with the greatest felicity of effect. The transparent vellum was then laid upon the surface of the painting and the two pressed together till they became indisseverable. Gold tooling was now superimposed upon the surface of the subcutaneous colouring, often with results surprising in their richness and beauty. Indeed, the vellum itself, though of perfect transparency, has, from its delicate warmth of hue, the quality of rendering luminous and reconciling colours otherwise difficult to combine harmoniously in juxtaposition, its appearance being that of a beautiful enamel-like glaze. The whole field of colour, of iridescence, is thus open to the artist who elects to decorate books bound in 'Vellucent.'" (Chivers books in Beautiful Bindings). Most Vellucent bindings were designed by H. Granville Fell with the paintings done by one of a group of 5 women, Dorothy Carleton Smyth, Alice Shepherd, Miss J.D. Dunn, Muriel Taylor, and Agatha Gales. In many cases the name of the artist is not advertised. Bindings were offered in very small numbers due to the workmanship involved and the high cost of the books.

Vellum. Condición: Near Fine. illustrated Ilustrador. A fabulous rare vellucent binding By Cedric Chivers of Bath. This is the tenth edition of Days and Hours in a Garden the front cover has an art neuvou painting of young woman in a garden by Dorothy Vere Gordan Boyle, the picture is surounded by a beautiful frame and pink flowers between gilt ruling, title on spine running along it with more flowers and gilding, rear board with double gilt ruling and a frame of leaves around a beautiful sun dial. Internal pastedowns are ruled in gilt with gold flowers in the corners around mottled papers , binders name in gilt Cedric Chivers Bath on rear pastedown gilt top edge 210 rough cut pages.

A Fine Cedric Chivers Vellucent Binding LAMB, Charles. CHIVERS, Cedric, binder. BROCK, Charles E., illustrator. The Essays of Elia. [and] The Last Essays of Elia. With an Introduction by Augustine Birrell and Illustrations by Charles E. Brock. London: J.M. Dent & Co., 1900. Two volumes bound in one. Small octavo (6 15/16 x 4 1/16 inches; 177 x 103 mm.). xxii, 294, [1, imprint], [1, blank];, xii, 254, [1, imprint], [1, blank] pp. Two engraved frontispieces and one hundred and sixty-two black & white illustrations, including decorative head and tailpieces, all by Charles E. Brock. Bound ca. 1906 in a fine pastel "vellucent" binding by Cedric Chivers (stamp-signed in gilt on rear lower turn-in), with a delicately hand-painted 'Art Nouveau' floral design. The front cover with three red flowers and a green vine design enclosing the title "The Essays And The Last Essays of Elia. Charles Lamb". Lower cover with a similar design but with just one red flower. Smooth spine similarly decorated and lettered in watercolor and gilt, gilt ruled turn-ins, mottled pale-green liners and end-papers, all edges gilt. Neat ink inscription dated "Xmas 1906" on front blank. A very fine example housed in the original fleece-lined, green cloth slipcase (missing the movable spine panel). This binding is No. LXXXV on page 34 of the Cedric Chivers catalog "Books in Beautiful Bindings" "In his large bindery at Portway, Bath, Chivers employed about forty women for folding, sewing, mending, and collating work, and in addition, five more women worked in a separate department, to design, illuminate, and colour vellum for book decoration, and to work on embossed leather. These five were Dorothy Carleton Smyth, Alice Shepherd, Miss J.D. Dunn, Muriel Taylor, and Agatha Gales. Most Vellucent bindings were designed by H. Granville Fell, but the woman most frequently employed for this kind of work was probably Dorothy Carleton Smyth" (Marianne Tidcombe, Women Bookbinders 1880-1920, p. 86). According to Bernard Middleton, the first vellucent binding dates to 1903. In these bindings the painting is on paper under the vellum, rather than on the underside of the vellum as in Edwards of Halifax bindings (History of English Craft Bookbinding Technique, pp. 146-147). Essays of Elia is a collection of essays written by Charles Lamb; it was first published in book form in 1823, with a second volume, Last Essays of Elia, issued in 1833 by the publisher Edward Moxon. The essays in the collection first began appearing in The London Magazine in 1820 and continued to 1825. Lamb's essays were very popular and were printed in many subsequent editions throughout the nineteenth century. The personal and conversational tone of the essays has charmed many readers; the essays "established Lamb in the title he now holds, that of the most delightful of English essayists." Lamb himself is the Elia of the collection, and his sister Mary is "Cousin Bridget." Charles first used the pseudonym Elia for an essay on the South Sea House, where he had worked decades earlier; Elia was the last name of an Italian man who worked there at the same time as Charles, and after that essay the name stuck. Critics have traced the influence of earlier writers in Lamb's style, notably Sir Thomas Browne and Robert Burton- writers who also influenced Lamb's contemporary and acquaintance, Thomas De Quincey. Some of Lamb's later pieces in the same style and spirit were collected into a body called Eliana. Charles Lamb (1775-1834) was born in London in 1775. He studied at Christ's Hospital where he formed a lifelong friendship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. When Lamb was twenty years old he suffered a period of insanity and was confined to a psychiatric hospital. His sister, Mary Ann Lamb, had similar issues and in 1796 murdered her mother in a fit of madness. Mary was confined to an asylum but was eventually released into the care of her brother. Lamb became friends in London with a group of young writers who favored political reform including Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Hazlitt, Henry Brougham, Lord Byron, Thomas Barnes and Leigh Hunt. In 1796 Lamb contributed four sonnets to Coleridge's Poems on Various Subjects (1796). This was followed by Blank Verse (1798) and Pride's Cure (1802). Lamb worked for the East India Company in London but managed to contribute articles to several journals and newspapers including London Magazine, The Morning Chronicle, Morning Post and the The Quarterly Review. He is best known for his pseudonymous essays for London Magazine, collected and published as Essays of Elia (1823), and for the popular evergreen Tales From Shakespeare (1807), his collaboration with his sister.

Hardcover. Condición: Fine. Full vellum, 8 inches tall. One of Cedric Chivers of Bath's celebrated translucent vellum bindings in excellent condition. Particularly suited to this idyllic work, the binding has an image of the village with a mother of pearl frame within a delightful border and floral designs with red calf onlays. The title and design on the spine are also hand coloured under the vellum. The stamp of Cedric Chivers in gilt, is found on the rear turn in. Decorated with 25 colour plates by Charles E. Brock. The binding is in excellent condition with no warping having been housed in it's original, now slightly frayed, felt lined cloth case. There is some foxing, particularly to the first few pages and to the verso of the plates. The vellum itself is very slightly spotted but this is still an exceptionally nice example of this style of binding.

A superb example of a vellucent binding. Cedric Chivers (1853 -1929) of Bath revived the technique of painting under vellum. Chivers would execute his paintings on paper which was covered with a translucent skin to form the binding, The covers were then lightly tooled with gold. It is rare to find such a finely preserved fine binding. Signed by Chivers. In 'Days and Hours in a Garden', 19th century Scotish artist and writier, Eleanor Vere Boyle (1825 -1916) takes us through the months of the year, the cherry blossoms, the rooks, the wild ivy etc. etc., reminiscent of a modest walled-garden 'Walden' by Thoreau. VIII MAY "There have been just one or two sweet days, when the white Cherry orchards shone softly against the sky of serenest blue; days when we did not but revel in the joyous present, forgetting quite that ever it could be that "rough winds do shake the darling buds of May" Octavo, vellucent binding, top edge gilt, frontispiece, small woodcut illustrations throughout, 210 pages, a fine copy in beautiful original condition housed in a custom box with leather bands and gilt titling.

An excellent example of Chivers' distinctive "vellucent" style of bookbinding, bound for Anne "Nan" Finch-Hatton (d. 1924), Countess of Winchelsea, with her nickname worked into the front cover and her ownership inscription dated 1904 on the first blank. Finch-Hatton set poems to music, such as Christina Rossetti's "When I am Dead, My Dearest" (1891) and her own set of nursery rhymes, Tunes for Tots (1889). Appropriately, the book at hand is an anthology of formes fixes, a genre of musical verse. The structures were popular in medieval France and later adopted by various British poets of the 20th century. This edition, part of the Canterbury Poets series, includes poems by W. E. Henley, Andrew Lang, and Austin Dobson. Cedric Chivers (1853-1929), one of the most successful bookbinders of his time, developed a new technique for binding books in the 1890s. His elaborate cover designs were painted on paper and then covered by vellum, which had been treated to become translucent. Sometimes exotic materials, such as mother-of pearl, were also added underneath the vellum, and gilt tooling applied over the top. In his bindery he employed "about forty women for folding, sewing, mending, and collating work, and in addition, five more women worked in a separate department, to design, illuminate, and colour the vellum" (Tidcombe, p. 86). The style they popularised influenced, and became closely associated with, the arts and crafts movement. Chivers patented his method in 1898 and used it to create some of the most beautiful books of the fin de siècle. Provenance: from the library of Robin de Beaumont (1926-2923), with his bookplate on the verso of the front free endpaper and a typed letter signed by noted bibliophile Eric Quayle, presenting him with the work in 1970, loosely inserted. Beaumont was a prolific collector whose collections were distinguished for their excellent condition. In the 1990s he donated over 500 items to the Prints and Drawings Department of the British Museum. Small octavo (136 x 104 mm). Finely bound in near-contemporary full vellum by Cedric Chivers of Bath, hand-painted in his "vellucent" style, mother-of-pearl inlay and gilt decoration to front cover and spine, titles and owner's name to spine and front cover in manuscript, vellum doublures, marbled free endpapers, top edge gilt, fore and bottom edges uncut. Binding bright, a little soiled at joints, scattered foxing. A near-fine copy.

Cedric Chivers (1853-1920) developed the technique of "vellucent binding," whereby an artist would paint on a thin surface, and a sheet of vellum, shaved to translucent thinness, was laid over it, with the result bound over boards. The significant achievement is that "for the first time in the history of the bibliopegistic art the actual work of the artist, undiluted by a translation through the hands of mechanics, is here visible in the decoration of the book" (Chivers catalogue, Books in Beautiful Bindings). Octavo. [xviii], 242, [2] pp. Colored frontispiece and title-page and twenty-three colored plates. In a full velucent binding by Cedric Chivers of Bath. Spine and front cover gilt-tooled in architectural design. Front cover features classical columns, with decoration at top and bottom, including flower ornaments and an urn with fruit, back cover gilt paneled. The front cover and spine are richly colored in shades of pink, purple, green, and yellow. Top edge gilt, pink patterned endpapers. Edges lightly foxed. A near fine copy.

190 x 130 mm. (7 1/2 x 5"). 4 p.l., 245, [1] pp., [1] leaf. A VERY PRETTY VELLUCENT BINDING BY CEDRIC CHIVERS (stamp-signed on rear turn-in), upper cover with large central panel outlined in gilt, depicting an idyllic grove of trees, with a large marbled sundial in the foreground, this highlighted with mother-of-pearl inlays, smooth spine with painted title panel, gilt-ruled turn-ins, vellum doublures. With frontispiece portrait of the author. â A little light soiling to vellum, occasional minor spots of foxing to margins, otherwise a fine, fresh copy, the binding well preserved and without the splaying that often affects vellum boards. This romance by a scandalous American heiress who married into a noble German family and then became a popular novelist was beautifully bound by Cedric Chivers, using a tranquil garden scene invoking the beloved woods of the title character. Clearly with autobiographical elements, "Beeches" involves the love story between a celebrated scientist and a clever American woman who is the wife of an Austrian nobleman. Our author, Bettina Riddle (1874-1957), was born into a wealthy Pennsylvania family and, like other American heiresses of her day, married a title--Friedrich Karl August, Baron von Hutten zum Stolzenberg. Her first novel appeared in 1898--the same year as her first child--and she went on to produce 25 novels over the next 40 years, including a series featuring her most famous character, Pam. She and the baron divorced in 1909, reputedly over her infatuation with an Italian tenor, and she settled in London (though wintering in Rome). Cedric Chivers (1853-1929) established binding premises in his native Bath after an inspiring visit to the Paris Exhibition of 1878, and a short time later, after hearing a lecture by Cyril Davenport on the 18th century painted vellum bindings of Edwards of Halifax, he began producing his own work in this tradition, creating what he called the "vellucent" binding. The innovative part of these bindings, as seen here, was accomplished by rendering vellum transparent, then placing it over painted pieces of paper, thereby protecting the surface of the paper from soiling and abrasion. Prideaux says that the process achieves the effect of enriched enamel. Chivers often used mother-of-pearl inlays on his vellucent bindings, and here the inlays give the sundial on the cover a more three-dimensional aspect.

Second Edition. 185 x 123mm. (7 1/4 x 5"). ix, [1], 213, [1] pp., [1] leaf. A VERY PLEASING VELLUCENT BINDING BY CEDRIC CHIVERS (signed on rear turn-in), front cover and smooth spine painted in an Art Nouveau style featuring twining vines, center panel of front cover with painted gilt-strung lyre at bottom and round mother-of-pearl inlay within a wreath at top, doublures of glazed vellum enclosed by a paper frame, all edges gilt. Printer's device on final leaf. â Binding with a touch of soil, spine just a shade darker than the covers, a few very minor spots internally, otherwise a fine, virtually unworn copy. This is a charming example of Chivers' "vellucent" bindings, a painting-under-vellum technique inspired by Cyril Davenport's lecture on the 18th century painted vellum bindings of Edwards of Halifax, given at the Paris Exhibition of 1878. On returning to England after his life-changing visit to the exposition, Chivers (1853-1929) established binding premises in his native Bath and began producing his own work in the Edwards tradition, calling his new style "vellucent" as its chief component was translucent vellum. After rendering vellum nearly transparent, Chivers placed it over paper on which a design had been painted, thus protecting the surface of the paper and the artwork from soiling and abrasion. Prideaux says that the process achieves the effect of enriched enamel. Chivers often used mother-of-pearl inlays on his vellucent bindings, and here the inlay provides the illusion of a mirror that might reflect the reader of the volume. The title poem here was inspired by another trip to France: in 1855, Swinburne (1837-1909) made his first trip abroad with his uncle. As they were crossing the English Channel, a violent storm thrilled the young poet with its awe-inspiring display of lightning and thunder. It was an unforgettable experience that stuck with Swinburne all his life--the poem recalling that crossing was written 40 years after the event, just five years before his death.

A fine vellucent binding by Cedric Chivers of Bath. 8vo (binding dimensions 17x11cm; page dimensions 16.5x10cm). Double gilt rules to upper cover, enclosing a painted floral design on a green background, calligraphic titles, inlaid mother of pearl hearts, and small gilt dots. Double gilt rules to spine, two inlaid mother of pearl hearts, painted design, and calligraphic titles. Double gilt rules to lower cover, with a painted thistle in the centre, and an inlaid mother of pearl heart above it. Gilt turn-ins, the rear turn-in signed "Cedric Chivers Bath". Top edge gilt. A near fine example, the binding very well preserved indeed. The contents rather foxed. Bookplate of one Cecil Francis Milsom to front pastedown, gift inscription to front free endpaper. A well-preserved Cedric Chivers vellucent binding of a most attractive design. Chivers's technique reintroduced the style of painted vellum bindings produced by Edwards of Halifax in the 18th century, but rather than have his artists paint directly onto the vellum, they would paint on paper under a transparent layer of vellum. This preserved the design, and allowed "mother of pearl and other exotic materials [to be] added as highlights under the vellum", as in the present example (Tidcombe). The gold tooling, so deftly employed here, would then be added to the surface of the vellum.

First edition thus, with illustrations by Edmund Sullivan. 8vo. Bound by Cedric Chivers in a "vellucent" binding. Full ivory vellum, with decoration in ink highlighted with blue and brown watercolour. Gilt borders. Chivers stamp to front blank. A handsome copy. Black and white drawings by Sullivan. Based partly on the author's experiences at Rugby, Tom Brown's School Days was the first famous 'school story' and set a blueprint for the genre which became so popular throughout the twentieth century, influencing P.G. Wodehouse, Frank Richards, Enid Blyton and J.K. Rowling amongst many others. The book also saw the invention of one of literature's most popular anti-heroes in the school bully, Flashman, whose later life was successfully recreated by George MacDonald Fraser. Cedric Chivers' vellucent bindings are beautiful and delicate, they came about when Chivers invented a process to make vellum translucent. The cover design was painted on a separate sheet and then had a thin sheet of vellum laid over it. Bindings were offered in very small numbers due to the workmanship involved.

Hardcover. Condición: Good. London: Macmillan & Co, London, 1894, Reprinted Edition. Preface by Austin Dobson. Full vellum vellucent binding by Cedric Chivers of Bath with their name blind stamped to the first front free end paper. Boards, as is often the case, bowed and tight, the spine slightly faded and the boards with an aged patina, slightly yellowed to the front board and reddish to the rear board with marks and wear consistent with the age of the volume. The spine has faded. Images of olive trees to the spine and both boards. Marbled end papers and paste downs with gilt edges to the inside boards, a signature to the second end paper followed by the half-title, some minimal folding to the page edges, visible to the top edge, and smog tanning and foxing. xxiv,[2],305,[7]pp, with 182 illustrations by Hugh Thomson. James Edwards of Halifax patented a technique for painted vellum bindings in 1785. He soaked the area to be painted with water to which a small quantity of pearl ash had been added and pressed the vellum which made the skin virtually transparent. The vellum was then painted to the flesh side of the skin, so that whe the book was bound, the painting was protectedbetween the vellum and the cover of the book . Chivers revisited the technique of using transparent vellum, but bound over painted paper panels, giving the name vellucent to this technique Brian Cole [Aspire to the Beautiful p78]. Approximately 7 ¾ inches tall. Condition Report Externally Spine good condition structurally sound, gilt titles to slightly faded spine, the I in Vicar is dark, minor marks, panel with olive tree in art nouveau style. Joints good condition sound. Corners god condition gently worn. Boards fair to good condition bowed and unevenly faded, with olive tree panels in an art nouveau style. Page edges good condition top edge darkened gilt, others untrimmed. See above and photos. Internally Hinges good condition tight and secure, in the classic duro-flexile Cedric method with jaconette hinges (see page 21 of B. Cole Aspire to the Beautiful ). Paste downs good condition marbled, gilt dentelles. End papers good condition marbled, blind stamp for 'Cedric Chivers, Bookbinders, Gay St. Bath' to a front free end paper. Title good condition gently tanned and foxed. Pages good condition gently tanned with some foxing throughout, some folded edges. Binding good condition attractive. See photos Publisher: see above. Publication Date: 1894 Binding: Hardback.

First King edition, one of 225 "sumptuously produced" large paper copies, this number 54 of the English issue. This edition was the first to feature illustrations by Jessie Marion King (1875 1949) and showcases her fine and delicate work. King's frontispiece for the present work was commissioned by Dent earlier in 1903 for Lady Charlotte Guest's translation of The Mabinogion, and its success there led to this more substantial undertaking. King's drawings, which "stressed the fantastic elements in the story" are reminiscent of those done for the grail story by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, both of whom were intimate friends of the translator (White). The work features a form of double frame which became distinct in King's work, "giving the reader a suspended glimpse of a land and time remote from reality. allowing access to the same ancient truths from which the legends had grown" (ibid.). "Influenced by a Gaelic-speaking nursemaid with a fund of folklore, Jessie believed herself gifted with 'second sight' and her art was inspired by fantasy, while its minuteness derived from close, myopic vision" (ODNB). From 1899 to 1907 she taught book design at the Glasgow School of Art, worked for the book binder Cedric Chivers, and designed fabrics and jewellery. Since the first retrospective shows in the 1970s, King's art has steadily risen in critical and commercial favour and is now listed alongside other Golden Age illustrators such as Arthur Rackham, Kate Greenaway, and Laurence Housman. This translation, first published in 1898, retells a version of the old French romance of Perceval le Gallois. Alongside translating from medieval French, Latin, Greek and Italian, Sebastian Evans (1830-1909) was a political activist, artist, and poet. As a poet "he combined a taste for medievalism with humour" which is evident in his translation work. Evans published an academic study of this text, In Quest of the Holy Graal, likewise in 1898. Colin White, The Enchanted World of Jessie M. King, 1989, B35. Large octavo (250 x 177 mm). Rebacked with white morocco, spine lettered in gilt, original vellum over bevelled boards, front cover illustrated and lettered in blue, top edge gilt, others untrimmed, plain endpapers. Title page printed in red and black. Frontispiece, illustrated title page, and 22 plates printed in red and black on India paper and mounted with tissue guards, decorative head- and tailpieces. Slight rubbing to board edges, vellum a little soiled, illustration faded and lightly rubbed, minor ripple to front pastedown, light occasional foxing to plates, contents fresh, a very good and attractive copy.

1st Ed. 175pp. + [i]. Colour port. frontis., 8 ills., 4 poems, text devices. Marbled e.ps., bound by Cedric Chivers in blue crushed morocco with blue cloth boards, gilt lettered green patch label to spine, a.e.g., enclosed in matching blue slipcase with colour pictorial title laid down to side of case. No. 28 of a Limited Edition of 50 Copies signed by Patrick O Brian.Published in April 1994 in a printing of 1,300 copies of which 1,000 copies comprised the trade edition, 250 copies the collectors edition; and 50 copies the limited edition, bound by Cedric Chivers of Bath. US$1746.

2 vols. 4to. xxii + 811pp. + xxiii + 629pp. Profusely ills. mainly in colour. From the Library of Sir Roy Strong, bound by Cedric Chivers in red gilt tooled goatskin backed red cloth boards, a.e.g, enclosed in velvet lined slipcase in matching style, superb production. No. 338 of a Limited Edition of 650 Numbered Copies issued, signed by Hugh Roberts Director of the Royal Collection. A scholarly catalogue of the Crown Jewels by experts in their field with contributions from Ronald Lightbown, Shirley Bury, Arthur Grimwade, Roger Harding, Alan Jobbins, Donald Kin, Kenneth Scarratt. It contains numerous illustrations, detailed descriptions and analyses of the precious stones. Much information is derived from original research with emphasis on the history of each piece and the coronation. US$1746.

Hardcover. Condición: Near Fine. Limited Edition. FIRST THOMSON EDITION, Large paper issue. One of only 300 copies issued. Large 8vo. (10.5 x 7.4 inches). Illustrated throughout with 101 fine line drawings by Thomson. Finely bound by Cedric Chivers of bath in early twentieth century binding of full plum morocco. Spine with raised bands, the compartments ruled, decorated and lettered in gilt. Decorative line and floral design to both boards. Board edges double ruled in gilt. Mottled coloured endpapers. Turn ins with double ruled lines and floral design. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Two previous owner bookplates on the front paste down endpaper. A little fading to the spine but overall a very near fine copy.

Hardcover. Condición: Near Fine. First edition. 12mo. Rebound contemporarily by Cedric Chivers in brown morocco decorated in gilt, with velucent title label in red, blue, and brown, with Chivers' small embossed mark at the topedge of the front fly. A touch of rubbing on the spine ends, else about fine, the binding would benefit from a little judicious polishing.