Miniature Book Affection's Gift 1848 Rock Brothers Gilt Leather

A rather scarce and charming little miniature first edition. This illustrated doll sized book retains the delightful bookseller label of "W & R Holmes Booksellers 195 Oxford Street" to upper corner of front paste down. This tiny book is a collection of poetry and prose with illustrations. The book is called Affection's Gift by Rock Brothers and Payne. It has its original dark brown gilt tooled leather front cover, ornate gilt tooled spine both with the title of the book. The back cover is blind stamped/plain tooled leather. It has retained its original pale yellow pastedowns. With all gilt edges. Page 192 has the printer's details: Unwin, Printer, Bucklersbury, London. Jacob Unwin (1802-1855) ran this printing company. He established what was to become Jacob Unwin Steam Printers and later Gresham Press and Unwin Brothers, on a site in Cornhill, London, in 1826. Jacob married Emma Soundy in 1829 and as the firm expanded, and larger premises were acquired at 31 Bucklersbury in 1834.

The book should contain 192 printed pages and 6 engraved plates, ours doesn't see condition below.

Size: 54 mm tall by 47 mm wide, or 2 1/8 inch by 1 7/8 inch

Condition: The outer binding shows general wear especially on the corners. Age wear and thumbing to pages. Our book is lacking 3 pages. It is illustrated with 5 engraved plates instead of 6 (the plates are on facing pages 7, 17, 28, 71 and 136). Our book is missing its frontispice which would give book title, publisher details, also missing page 49/50 which would have had an illustration of The Page of Fredrick The Great. It is also missing page 63/64. There is old owner/children's scribble to front and rear pastedown. Old owner inscription to the plain rear of plate 1 on page 7 reading "A Edwards 117 Greenville Rd, Kilburn, N W London".

Item ID:15067