NAPOLÉON

Berlin: George Bondi, 1923. FIRST EDITION. 245 x 170 mm. (9 3/4 x 6 3/4"). viii, 528 pp.
Regal red pebble-grain morocco, gilt, by W. Collin, Berlin (stamp-signed on rear turn-in), covers with fillets enclosing a leaf roll frame with fleuron cornerpieces, central gilt "N" surrounded by laurel wreath, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments with fleuron center- and cornerpieces, gilt titling, all edges gilt. With eight portraits of Napoleon after Gros, Ingres, David, and others. ◆One small stain affecting one letter, paper lightly and evenly toned, but a VERY FINE COPY with no signs of use or wear inside or out.

This German biography of the French emperor by lawyer, poet, and historian Berthold Vallentin (1877-1933) was handsomely bound by a prestigious Berlin bindery. Founded by Wilhelm Collin in 1845, the firm of W. Collin was Court Bookbinder to the Prussian Empire in addition to being a notable trade bindery. After Wilhelm's death in 1893, the firm was headed by his son Georg, who had trained in England at the Zaehnsdorf bindery. Georg's daughter Gertrude learned the family trade and after her father's death in 1918, she carried on the business with his widow, Regina, until 1936. Gertrude was responsible for the present binding, which upholds the firm's tradition of fine work..