THE BALLAD OF BEAU BROCADE AND OTHER POEMS OF THE XVIIITH CENTURY

London: Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trübner, & Co, 1892. No. 10 OF 450 LARGE PAPER COPIES (250 for England and 200 for America), SIGNED by the author on the limitations page. 253 x 178 mm. (10 x 7"). xiii, [3], 83, [9] pp.
ELEGANT CONTEMPORARY TAN MOROCCO, GILT, BY RIVIERE & SON (stamp-signed on front pastedown "Bound by Riviere & Son for L. Samuel Montagu, 1893"), covers with gilt rule and bead-and-star roll border, intricate dentelle frame, Pegasus ornament at center, raised bands, spine compartments with central fleuron enclosed by a lozenge of star tools, curling cornerpieces, gilt lettering, densely gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. Original ivory cloth binding bound in. With 50 illustrations by Hugh Thomson, 25 of these plates printed on Japanese vellum. Signed on title page by the artist. ◆AN IMMACULATE COPY.

This collection of 18th century-style ballads by a poet of the Aesthete School comes in a refined binding that captures the elegance of that time. Described by Day as a "genteel bureaucrat" who specialized in "the graceful insouciance of 'vers de société' rather than the 'flowers of evil'" favored by others of his cohort, Henry Austin Dobson (1840-1921) wrote light, witty verse that reflected his fascination with the 18th century. Day notes that "he could write heroic couplets with much of Pope's conversational ability" and "could reproduce the elaborate French stanzas" of triolet, ballade, and rondeau with a finesse matched by few Englishmen. Dobson's extensive knowledge of the 18th century was so respected that DNB says "any publisher intending to reissue an eighteenth-century work went to Dobson for an introduction." Our binder Riviere is one of the foremost names in English binding, partly because the firm did consistently fine work and partly because it was so long in business. Robert Riviere began as a bookseller and binder in Bath in 1829, then set up shop as a binder in London in 1840; in 1881, he took his grandson Percival Calkin into partnership, at which time the firm became known as Riviere & Son, and the bindery continued to do business until 1939. This binding was done for L. Samuel Montagu, perhaps Louis Samuel Montagu (1869-1927), son of financier, Liberal MP, and philanthropist Samuel Montagu, 1st Baron Swaythling. While the delicate filigree tooling is very characteristic of Riviere's finishing, the Pegasus centerpiece is not a regular Riviere tool, and was perhaps particular to this client. In any case, the brilliant gilt and intricate finishing make for a memorable piece of work..