TIME'S TELESCOPE
Late Georgian almanac in a terrific early publisher's muslin binding with printed text and a wood-engraved centerpiece.
Very good.
Price: $1,200.00
TIME'S TELESCOPE
Cloth is a relatively recent addition to the art of bookbinding in Western book history. London publisher William Pickering and his binder Archibald Leighton are credited with developing the publisher's cloth binding in 1820 or '21, using a "fine-weave cotton fabric which was [...] smooth, shiny and easier to attach to a pasteboard," but the style did not truly catch on until the 1840s (Nash, 284). Book historian Paul W. Nash further notes that, from around 1824, publishers such as Pickering began offering books bound in "extra cloth boards," sometimes meaning full printed cloth as here (247).
This production uses the printed cloth to reproduce a more elaborate and eye-catching version of the title page with the additional large wood engraving. A fantastic survival.
Read more: Nash, "Two hundred years of publisher's cloth," Journal of the Printing Historical Society, 3rd series, no. 1.
The Object
London: Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper, 1830. Full title: Time's Telescope, for 1830; or, A Complete Guide to the Almanack: containing an explanation of Saints' Days and holidays; with illustrations of British history and antiquities, existing and obsolete rites and customs, sketches of contemporary chronology, and contemporary biography. Astronomical occurrences in every month; comprising remarks on the phenomena of the celestial bodies: and the naturalist's diary; explaining the various appearances in the animal and vegetable kingdoms. With numerous Engravings in Wood, published annually. 12mo, 7.5'' x 4.5''. Original full muslin printed to spine and front board. Uncut. Illustrated with engraved frontispiece and in-text wood engravings throughout. Title page printed in red and black. Publisher's catalogue at rear. [4], 432, [10] pages. Contemporary ink owner inscription to frontispiece verso. Marginal foxing to muslin and some light foxing to text, spine a bit toned.
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