1886 1st Ed BORDER LANCES By E L Seeley ILLUSTRATED RARE Book Historical Romance

Description: 1886 1st Ed BORDER LANCES By E L Seeley ILLUSTRATED RARE Book Historical Romance 1886 1st Edition – BORDER LANCES – A Romance of the Northern Marches in the Reign of Edward The Third. By the Author of “Belt And Spur”, who was Emma Louise Seeley. ILLUSTRATED And RARE Antiquarian Hardback Book in an Ornately Decorative Binding. This book is beautifully illustrated and has a 12 COLOUR LITHOGRAPH PLATES, including a COLOUR FRONTISPIECE, together with a protective sheet, and many black and white illustrations throughout. These are all present and accounted for. There are also yellow pastedowns and endpapers. I understand that the plates were illustrated are lithographs by M. & N. Hanhart, which were a London lithographic publishing house, and they are signed “Hanhart lith”. Published in 1886 by Seeley And Co, 46, 47, & 48 Essex Street, London. I believe it to be a first edition, although this is not stated in the book. Printed by Woodfall & Kinder, Milford Street, London. Not much is known about the author, Emma Louise Seeley, other than she wrote a handful of historically themed books. This is a historical romance. In this preface it states: “In writing this tale I have followed most closely the Chronicle of Lanercost, but I have made use of several other works, such as the "Scala Chronicon," Wyntoun's Poems, &c. I have aimed generally at historical accuracy, but in matters of little moment I have allowed myself some freedom of invention. As for the marriage of Sir John de Copeland to the widow of Sir William de Coucy, it has been accepted as authentic by so many writers that I thought myself at liberty to make it the foundation of my story……. The grotesques interspersed through the pages are copied from drawings in Bestiaries and other MSS. of the fourteenth century.” There is no dust jacket. However, this is bound in the publisher’s original blue, pictorial cloth, over boards with gilt and red decorations and stylised gilt lettering on both the front board and spine. The decorative blue cloth bound boards and spine are intact, robust and in a good condition for 138 years old. There is some age-related wear, which includes bumping and small rips to the corners, several small or light marks, small rips at the top and bottom of the spine, discolouration to the cloth, mainly on the spine, and a slight lean to the spine. Please see the photographs provided for further reference. Inside, the pages are lightly tanned, which is consistent for a book of this age, and there is light foxing on some of the preliminary pages, light stains on the pastedowns and endpapers, and remnants of a previously pasted plate on the front free endpaper, causing some rubbing and marks (see photo). Besides this, the pages are overall neat and clean for their age, and predominantly uncreased. There are just the occasional small or very light marks, and only a few pages have very small folds or small creases. None of these obscure the text or illustrations. A handful of pages have very small rips at the edges, including a very small rip on the inner edge of page 137 and overleaf, and there is a very small hole in the front free endpaper. None of these affect the text or illustrations. A couple of pages edges are roughly cut at the bottom, but this is most likely to do with the construction method when this book was made and is all part of its beautiful history. The page leaves were probably uncut and then severed with a pen knife. There is a very small amount of pencil on the page adjacent to page 1 (start of chapter 1), which is shown in the photograph provided. There is also a little pencil on the last page of the book catalogue, at the rear of the book. However, there are no further pen or pencil marks inside this book. There is a crack in the gutter between the front pastedown and front endpaper (see photo). The front flyleaf is partially loose, just to the top, as so still secure and attached. Between a few further pages there are very light cracks in the gutter but are secure. There are no missing pages and so all 272 pages are present, plus 20 pages at the rear containing the publisher’s catalogue. This also has beautifully illustrations. Please study the photos carefully as to the condition of this book, as they do form part of the description. This measures approximately 19.5 cm by 14 cm and 3.4 cm wide. It weighs approximately 617 grams. Thank you so much for looking.

Price: 49.99 GBP

Location: Newark

End Time: 2024-11-12T15:36:00.000Z

Shipping Cost: 30.76 GBP