The Book of Common Prayer. (Illustrated by Owen Jones)

London: John Murray, 1850. ~FULL TITLE: The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, According to the Use of the United Church of England and Ireland. With Plates and Illustrations. ~Original full red morocco over bevelled boards, raised bands, blind decor, and gilt title to spine. Blindstamped outer border, cornerpieces, and central panel blocked in blind with ornate pattern of intertwined vines to boards. Blind decor to board edges. All edges gauffered gilt: an elaborate gothic diaper design of quatrefoils in lozenges. Mild rubbing to board and spine edges, board corners slightly pushed in. Minor chipping to top of spine. Endpapers marbled in French Curl pattern. Hinges sound, with no cracking to endpapers. Two tiny bookseller's labels to inside front board: 'F. Barker. Bookseller. Hammersmith.' Tiny binder's stamp of Remnant Edmonds & Remnants to blank front endpage: this firm specialised in elaborate leather bindings for ecclesiastical works, many of which were designed for them by Owen Jones, who designed the vignettes, initials, borders, and ornaments for this volume and may well have had a hand in the binding. Six full-page gilt and colour chromolithographic plates, with coloured initials and borders designed by Jones throughout. Two red silk ribbon markers, worn. Owen Jones (1809-1874), architect, printer, and designer, was 'one of the most influential, prolific, and well-known designers of mid-nineteenth-century Britain' (ODNB), responsible for the decoration of the Crystal Palace, and one of the central figures in the mid-century enthusiasm for medieval illumination which his own designs for volumes such as this BCP did much to translate into a living Victorian tradition. ~Robust packaging. All UK orders trackable, others on request. . Hardback. Very Good. xl, 484pp. Binding tight, text unmarked.