A Census of Caxtons, Printed for the Bibliographical Society Illustrated Monograph Series, No. XV. **Fine binding by Fazakerley, Liverpool**

Oxford, England: Printed for the Bibliographical Society, Oxford University Press, 1909 Hard cover, 4to, finely rebound by [John] "Fazakerley of Liverpool," (stamp signed to verso of ffep.) with the original tan wraps bound in at rear bearing a note in old ink on rear wrap: " cat. bought May 1909. H. J. F." Handsomely re-bound in contemporary three-quarter red morocco gilt, with marbled paper-covered boards and endpapers, top edge gilt, and a ruled gilt line at edge of corners. The spine has rolls of gilt decoration to either side of the raised bands, and at head and foot, with titles and the date 1909. 196 pp. Printed by Horace Hart, M.A., Oxford Press on heavy laid paper. Ex-Library with an engraved bookplate to the front pastedown from the (relatively local) Wigan Free Library. Condition: Very Good Plus (or better, internally): externally showing some rubbing to the faces of corner pieces with wear through to the board. Very minor shelf wear along bottom edges. The spine shows no wear on face, perhaps a bit of staining on rear surface. Hinges with slight areas of cracking but holding firmly; book remains tight and square. Some minor foxing to bookplate, and perhaps some offset from the facing marbled paper. Pages are mildly age toned. A paper- manufacturing crease appears to the top edge of the frontispiece (as well as previous page); it may look like a tear but is not! A few small library blind stamps on various pages. Small, easily removable pencil notation has been left in a few places in case it is useful for identifying the binder, purchaser or the like.**Envisioned as an improvement upon the Caxton bibliography of William Blades (1877). William Caxton (1415-1492) famously introduced printing to London around 1475. This volume catalogues the known existing copies of Caxton published works, along with partial facsimile reproductions of the various texts. "An outstanding achievement of bibliographical detection. Through library reports and close examination of thousands of booksellers' and sale catalogues, Ricci traces all copies of Caxton imprints known in his time and their migration through successive collections"---/Breslauer & Folter 146. **The bookbinder, "Fazakerley of Liverpool" refers to, at this date, the second generation practitioner, John Fazakerley (perhaps ref. the notation with the initials H.J.F?) The firm was most famous for the production of books with stunning fore-edge paintings, sometimes also with intricately-designed and executed gauffered edge dimensional architectural-like designs in the gilt edges, or both. Our item here has, sadly, none of that, but is noteworthy nonetheless for the high quality of the binding work. Other examples of Fazakerley of Liverpool bindings can be found on the British Library database, or in the collections of the New York Historical Society. Ramsden (Outside London) p. 71 for more on the history of the Fakazkerley firm. A relatively scarce title for the Caxton collector in a fine binding that would look wonderful on the shelf. . First edition. Hardcover. Very Good Plus.