MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE AND REIGN OF KING GEORGE THE THIRD

London: Tinsley Brothers, 1867. Second Edition. 227 x 157 mm. (9 x 6 1/4"). Three volumes extended to six..
LOVELY CRIMSON MOROCCO, GILT, BY PAWSON & NICHOLSON (stamp-signed on verso of front flyleaf), covers bordered with a gilt rule surrounding a frame made up of an undulating vine, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments with a single gilt rule enhanced by twining vine motif, STRIKING MOROCCO DOUBLURES with a large inlaid panel of deep blue morocco gilt with a twining vine, surrounded by a rich red morocco frame, gilt with a lacy pattern of small floral tools, dark blue silk moiré endleaves, top edge gilt. EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH 382 PLATES, including portraits and facsimile letters, four of them hand-colored, all with tissue guards. All text and plates mounted on tabs. Spines just slightly darkened, a handful of leaves a little soiled, inserted plates sometimes with minor foxing and occasionally causing offsetting, but A VERY FINE SET--quite fresh and clean internally, and in practically unworn bindings.

This lavishly extra-illustrated copy of a lively royal biography was beautifully bound by a premier American firm. Popular Victorian historical writer John Heneage Jesse (1809-74) penned a series of works on life at the Court of England under the Stuart and Hanoverian monarchs, and here covers the man who was king during the American Revolution, George III (1738-1820). The king's son, the Duke of Clarence (later William IV), was a friend of Jesse's father, and no doubt his influence and approval allowed the biographer access to the king's correspondence, some of which was published here for the first time. According to DNB, his accounts of "royalty, courts, and romantic, often lost, causes" were not taken very seriously by other historians, but Jesse (1809-74) was acknowledged even by his critics for his "conscientiousness" in consulting and quoting the appropriate materials. Britannica notes that "his numerous historical works are written with vivacity and interest, and, in their own style, are an important contribution to the history of England." The extensive grangerizing here provides portraits of many of the people discussed in the text. The Pawson & Nicholson bindery was founded in Philadelphia in 1848 by English émigré James Pawson and James Bartram Nicholson (1820-1901), author of "A Manual of the Art of Bookbinding" (1856), the first American work on the subject. Nicholson was indentured to the binders Weaver & Warnock in 1836, and spent 12 years in their workshop learning the craft. He joined forces with Pawson, who had previously worked in New York, shortly after his apprenticeship ended. The firm prospered, becoming one of the most prominent American binderies. Nicholson retired from binding in 1890, but members of the Pawson and Nicholson families continued the business until 1911. The sumptuousness of these bindings is not something one usually expects from mid-19th century America workshops, but the craftsmanship here equals that of the fine London binderies of the day..