- Bookseller: Lux Mentis, Booksellers
- Seller Inventory #: 2539
- Format: Hardcover
- Edition: First Edition Thus
- Binding: Hardcover
- Publisher: William Miller
- Place: London
- Date published: 1811
Book Description
London: William Miller, 1811. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Light shelf wear, glue toning at pastedowns, spine shows signficant wear/drying (though whole and note cracked through; decorative surface damaged, but underlayer supple and strong), red leather labels missing material, bookplate on front pastedown, plate pages show touch of foxing, else tight, bright and unmarred. Full leather boards, gilt lettering and decorative elements, in blind decorative elements, blue endpages, marbled edge staining, frontispiece. 8vo. 214pp. plus 12pp. ads. Illus. (b/w plates). With a Life of the Author by J.S. Clarke, F.R.S. Vicar of Preston and Librarian to the Prince." Noted flaws notwithstanding, a very presentable copy of this epic tale.
Not sure what some of these terms mean? Look it up in our glossary.
boards : Common term for the covers of a hardbound book.
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. Also known as the back.
tight : Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
gilt : The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book. The edges of the text block, or an inlay in the front cover of the boards, for example.
cracked : In reference to a hinge or a book's binding, means that the glue which holds the opposing leaves has allowed them to separate, revealing the stitching or binding underneath.
frontispiece : A portrait or illustration on the page opposing the title page.
8vo : Short for Octavo, A book whose page size is approximately 8-10 inches tall. The size is based on a sheet of paper 25 inches by 38 inches, the size of paper traditionally used by book printers, which has been folded and cut into 16 pages..
Unfortunately often misunderstood to mean 8 volumes.
bookplate : A device (often decorative) affixed to the book, usually on the endpapers, which designates ownership (or former ownership).
plate : Full page illustration or photograph. Plates are printed separately from the text of the book, and bound in at production. I.e., they are not sewn as parts of gatherings.
pastedown : The paper glued to the inside cover of a hard cover book.
shelf wear : Minor wear resulting from a book being place on, and taken from a bookshelf, especially along the bottom edge.
