Album of Taste and Fashion and Book of Commercial & General Information 1878 Golden Guide to London
Decorated Blindstamped Cloth
1877 · London
London: George Hennelle, 1877. Decorated Blindstamped Cloth. Very Good. Folio-sized, 40 by 31 cm. 73 leaves are numbered (not pages), followed by an almost equal number not accordingly numbered. This is the antithesis of a pocket tourist guide, and not just in size. While the part that is not overtly paid-for advertisements is full of useful information, the size and heft of the book meant that it was more likely to be a courtesy reference one might have found at hotels or on ships, or perhaps as a souvenir for the visitor. The reference part has all the expected useful information -- hotels, restaurants, transportation info, sights, museums, neighborhood descriptions, and many text illustrations -- but it is the often splashy ads that probably stood out then, and stand out now. These form the greater part of devoted to "Fine Arts", "Shipping Intelligence", "Champagne and Cognac", and "Plans of London Theatres". In the first of these, there are numerous full page ads for photography studios, often with a specimen of their work. The champagne section is full of mounted color printed labels. The last section has pictorial diagrams of many theatres still standing today. There are plenty of other flamboyant ads in the first part of the book for almost anything conceivable, from clothes to pool tables to lawn mowers, sometimes with mounted chromolithographic illustrations. Wear to the red decorative cloth. Repair to the front joint. Clean within. (Inventory #: 003261)