[Fore-Edge Painting] The Shipwreck; and Other Poems

Chiswick -- London: Thomas Tegg. Printed by C. Whittingham, 1822. Full Calf. Very Good Minus. Alfred Carter Needham. Fore-edge painting of a square rig vessel and ancillary rowboats at sunrise by Alfred Carter Needham. Two dates are given, with first title page, which has an engraved vignette illustration, indicating 1822, while the plainer second title, which despite its placement is more like a half-title, showing 1821. 12mo. 13 by 8 cm. [6], 124 pp. Needham (1872-1952) was an American painter based in Boston and Manchester, Massachusetts known for his marine paintings and proficient in miniatures. Supposedly he was self-taught, at least in fore-edge (truncated) painting technique, and he was believed to have executed between 35 and 40 fore-edge paintings. In an article he wrote about his artwork, he had a preference for painting things that had a close relationship to the subject of the book, as is the case with this fore-edge painting. See Weber, Annotated Dictionary of Fore-Edge Painting Artists & Binders p. 213. We would add that this fore-edge painting is remarkable for having been done on a near miniature book, with a thin canvass, so to speak, and thus the painting is tantamount to a true miniature painting. With a plain mounted bookplate of Annie Paget, and an inked ownership inscription by Eliza Paget, the latter dated 1824. Eliza Paget was a published English novelist of the early to mid-19th Century. Blindstamping on green calf covers. Minor paint loss, and some fading more generally, of the fore-edge painting. Gilt work in corners of board and on spine. Rubbed joints and edges. First title page heavily foxed. Foxing, but somewhat less so, on other prelim leaves. Then mostly clean til the final blank, which has some foxing as well. (Inventory #: 004131)