The Sermon on the Mount. Illuminated by W.R. Tymms. / Audsley, W. & G. Outstanding elaborate victorian cloth binding

Audsley, W[illiam] (b. 1833) & G[eorge] (1838-1925), illuminators. The sermon on the mount . . . Illustrated by Charles Rolt. Chromolithographed by W. R. Timms. [27]ff. on heavy paper, each leaf tipped to a cloth hinge. Chromolithographed plates tipped onto the rectos of each leaf, within double-ruled red printed borders. [London: Day & Son, 1861.] 350 x 254 mm. Original publisher's binding of elaborately gilt-stamped brown pebble-grain cloth with paper onlays on the front cover, back cover stamped in blind, all edges gilt. Some wear at extremities and corners, small split at the bottom of the front hinge. Some foxing, but very good.

First Edition. "One of the outstanding monuments to the Victorian passion for illumination" (McLean, Victorian Book Design and Colour Printing, p. 98). The Sermon on the Mount was the first book published by George and William Audsley, who, like Owen Jones, were both architects and book designers. The book was issued in both folio and royal quarto versions. "The royal quarto version of the Audsley's Sermon has one of the most colorful and complex covers created in the 19th century. There is a consistent pattern of references to Greek design and texts on the front cover, done in brown pebble-grained cloth with thirteen colored-paper and chromolithographed cutout onlays, some of which may be lacquered. Blocking in gold and black reinforces the geometric regularity of the cover, while green stenciling adds another color" (Beckwith, p. 22). A. Beckwith, Victorian Bibliomania: The Illuminated Book in 19th-Century Britain, no. 9. E. M. B. King, Victorian Decorated Trade Bindings 1830-1880, no. 681.