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THE BETTER LAND
by [FEMALE ILLUMINATOR]; HEMANS, Mrs [Felicia]; illuminated by BAKER, Helen; [preface by WILBERFORCE, Samuel]:
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Day & Son., [1867].. First edition. Quarto (23 x 28cm). Publisher's original maroon cloth over bevelled boards with gilt titles and decoration to the upper board, repeated in blind to the lower board. All edges gilt. 11 unnumbered thick card leaves printed on rectos only, mounted on stubs, comprising a chromolithographic title page, followed by a preface by Rev. Samuel Wilberforce printed in red and black, and 9 chromolithographic leaves in the style of an illuminated manuscript, richly coloured and incorporating gold and silver. One leaf embellished with an original albumen photographic vignette. Expertly re-cased. A very good copy, the binding square and firm with a hint of wear to the spine ends and corners. The contents with a small area of abrasion to the front pastedown and some scattered foxing (heavier to the endpapers) are otherwise in very good order. A beautiful edition of the Romantic poet Felicia Heman's poem 'The Better Land', splendidly illuminated by Helen Baker and printed in chromolithography by Day & Son.
As Samuel Wilberforce notes in his preface, the work was produced to aid the rebuilding of St James Church, Ramsden in Oxfordshire. Helen Baker was a younger sister to the Rev. Robert Lowbridge Baker then parish priest at Ramsden. We can trace no other publications by Baker, but she was certainly very talented, as Wilberforce asserts: "I believe that all who themselves are gifted with the power of appreciating beauty will thoroughly appreciate the genius which has designed, and the skill which has executed these illustrations".
A scarce title, with only two institutional copies recorded by LibraryHub (Bodleian & Cambridge).
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Details
- Bookseller
- Sky Duthie Rare Books
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 1301
- Title
- THE BETTER LAND
- Author
- [FEMALE ILLUMINATOR]; HEMANS, Mrs [Felicia]; illuminated by BAKER, Helen; [preface by WILBERFORCE, Samuel]:
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- London: Day & Son.
- Date Published
- [1867].
- Keywords
- Art & Design|Literature|Illustrated Books|Private Press & Fine Printing|Religion|Books By / About Women|Photography
Terms of Sale
Sky Duthie Rare Books
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About the Seller
Sky Duthie Rare Books
Biblio member since 2022
Sheffield, South Yorkshire
About Sky Duthie Rare Books
We carry a wide-ranging stock of fine and rare books, unique manuscripts, original artwork, photographs and ephemera. Placing a strong emphasis on the unusual and the visually stimulating, our areas of focus include travel and exploration; natural history; science and medicine; art and design; history; politics, philosophy and economics; literature and poetry; and children's and illustrated books.
Following a period in academia focusing on the history of ideas and after several years working for a prominent rare bookseller, the business was established in 2022 by Dr Sky Duthie.
Following a period in academia focusing on the history of ideas and after several years working for a prominent rare bookseller, the business was established in 2022 by Dr Sky Duthie.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Vignette
- A decorative design or illustration placed at the beginning or end of a ...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Quarto
- The term quarto is used to describe a page or book size. A printed sheet is made with four pages of text on each side, and the...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
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