Bill the Minder

New York: Henry Holt & Co, 1912. Hardcover. Very Good/No Dust Jacket as Issued. 7 1/2" x 10. W. Heath Robinson. VERY GOOD / NO DUST JACKET. Former library book. 254 pp. Pages are somewhat toned, but otherwise well preserved: no tears, smudges or marks. Library treatments consist of a pocket pasted inside front cover, a "room use only" label pasted on front endpaper, the library name rendered in punched holes along with some penciled notes and a small stamp on the table of contents page. Title page is untouched. Includes 117 black/white drawings and 16 full color, tipped in plates (including the frontispiece), all with tissue guard pages intact. Boards covered with olive green cloth; front cover illustrated with a copy of the frontispiece illustration, surrounded by lovely gilt border design and gilt titling. Some evidence of shelfwear but remarkably little; illustration has one scrape mark and a smudge, gilt is all still bright and fresh looking. Spine is illustrated with gilt design as well, but is very faded. Shelfwear obvious on back cover. Top and tail of spine are somewhat bumped and worn, but not torn; wear is light for the age of the book. The edges of the boards show very little wear: bottom of front cover is somewhat bumped and top edges are faded, but otherwise in remarkably good condition, even corners are whole, unbumped. Text block is browned, most severely on the top, and there is a smudge on the bottom front edge. Text block is stamped with library name. Binding is solid: no cracks, nothing is loose. Book was "room use only," and appears to have gotten very little use, so has been well preserved.