"DIBDIN, rév. Th. Frognall;"Livre Rare Book
A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ANTIQUARIAN AND PICTURESQUE TOUR IN THE NORTHERN COUNTIES OF ENGLAND AND IN SCOTLAND
1838ST17640fLondon: Printed for the author by C. Richards 1838. FIRST EDITION. 251 x 156 mm. 9 7/8 x 6 1/8". With the list of subscribers in volume I. Two volumes. <br/> HANDSOME EARLY 20TH CENTURY RED MOROCCO GILT BY MATTHEWS stamp-signed on front turn-in covers with gilt French fillet border enclosing a simple lobed panel raised bands spines very attractively gilt in compartments with spiral cornerpieces and centerpiece featuring either a fleur-de-lys a manuscript scroll and quill or Dibdin's cipher gilt inner dentelles marbled endpapers all edges gilt. With numerous engravings in the text and 44 ENGRAVED PLATES as called for including portraits views antiquities and manuscript facsimiles. Jackson 89; Windle & Pippin A-65; Lowndes I 641. ◆Plates with occasional minor foxing otherwise A VERY PLEASING SET IN ESPECIALLY FINE CONDITION the text clean and bright and the decorative bindings unworn and remarkably lustrous.<br/> <br/> This charming bibliographical travelogue takes us from Peterborough to London and on to Lincoln York Durham Newcastle Carlisle Dumfries Edinburgh Glasgow St. Andrews and the border lands of Sir Walter Scott with many stops along the way at libraries cathedrals castles and ruins. Dibdin 1776-1847 was perhaps the most visible figure among the bibliophiles and bibliographers of the first half of the 19th century. His "Bibliomania" 1809 was an amusing account of the then-current craze of book collecting among wealthy English aristocrats and the book while cynical did much to encourage the mania. And it was at his suggestion that the Roxburghe Club was founded in 1812. Our binding is typical of the elegant work produced by William Matthews a Scot who became the leading binder in America during the second half of the 19th century. He was head of the bindery at D. Appleton and Company was an early member of the Grolier Club and was an important advisor in the formation of the Club Bindery a firm organized with the generally realized intention of executing fine American bindings that rivalled the best being produced in Europe. Printed for the author by C. Richards unknown
