Royal quarto (34.5x27 cm). Pp. 32. Plus 12 chromolithographic plates, each with facing tissue-guard. Hardcover, bound in the original publisher's full cloth, front decorated in black, back decorated in blind, spine-ends trifle bumped, inner hinges slightly cracked; old institutional stamps and calligraphed shelf number to title-page, another stamp effaced with small repaired damage, stamp repeated at verso of each plate. In a very good condition, clean interior, fine plates. ~ First edition. Rare. The splendid plates are printed in exceptionally rich, dense colours and excellent gloss, beautifully heightened with gold. An authoritative manual on chromolithography in 1885 (Colour and Colour Printing, by W. D. Richmond) asserts the need for at least nine separate stones to achieve such richness, but in fact the number of stones used was often more than twenty. ~ Provenance: From the library of C. P. Mulder, renowned collector and international heraldry authority, with his charming armorial bookplate,"Nil Desperandum", to first free endpaper. For a complete catalogue of Mulder's library, from which we offer a considerable number of items, see: C. P. Mulder: "Catalogue of Works on Orders, Decorations and Medals in the Library of C. P. Mulder" (Rotterdam, 1988). See also: C. P. Mulder & A. A. Purves: "Bibliography of Orders and Decorations" (Copenhagen, 1999).
