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218 x 138 mm. (8 1/2 x 5 1/2"). vii, [1], 280 pp. ELEGANT DARK BLUE MOROCCO, GILT, BY BAYNTUN (stamp-signed on front turn-in), covers with gilt fillet frame, stippled volute cornerpieces, UPPER COVER WITH LOVELY MINIATURE PORTRAIT of a fashionable lady, the painting under glass and surrounded by a gilt-tooled frame, raised bands, spine compartments with volute frame, gilt lettering, gilt-framed turn-ins, ecru moiré silk endleaves, all edges gilt. WITH 21 PLATES OF FASHIONABLE PEOPLE, five of these called for (one color), and 16 EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED (seven of these in color, one double-page, and nine in black & white), all with tissue guards. Spine gently sunned to navy blue, just a hint of rubbing to joints, but still quite a fine copy--clean and fresh internally, and with almost no signs of use inside or out. This handsomely illustrated look at the London social scene during the Victorian and Edwardian eras and after the Great War comes in a suitably chic binding by the last Victorian bindery still in family hands. Author Ralph Nevill (1865-1933) was a denizen of the world he writes about, being the son of one of the leading hostesses of the day, Lady Dorothy Walpole Nevill (1826-1913); DNB notes that "family tradition" held that Ralph's father was her close friend, Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Beaconsfield. Nevill has a wide array of insider anecdotes to share about country house life, the pleasures of London society, and prominent politicians and journalists. He makes it clear that the Victorian era was preferable to the 20th century, and nothing is more drab that the post-war world. The illustrations feature portraits of prominent men, landscapes of stately homes, and scenes from the balls, operas, and royal occasions that made up the London Season. The very pretty binding is in the Cosway style made popular by bookseller Henry Sotheran and the Riviere bindery, characterized by a miniature painting set under glass on the covers or doublures. Our binding was done by the venerable English firm founded in Bath by George Bayntun in 1894. Among the great English workshops of the Edwardian "golden age" of lavish bindings, Bayntun has the distinction of being the only one located outside London's West End to be sought after by bibliophiles. Bayntun was a worthy rival to the likes of Sangorski & Sutcliffe and Riviere & Son (the latter being subsumed by Bayntun in 1939). Bayntun of Bath continues to create fine hand bindings for bibliophiles. Unusually, the miniature painting in our binding is signed by the artist, but we were unable to decipher the signature, and the Bayntun bindery did not have any information about the painter's identity.
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