Once Upon a Time [two volume set]

London: John Murray, 1854. Hardcover. Very good. Small octavo (17 cm), pp. Vol. I: [vi], 318; Vol 2: [iv], 312, 32 (Publisher's catalog). Marbled boards with green half-leather with gilt spine titling and five raised bands. Red publisher's stain to all edged. Light green endpapers. A series of sketches offering "glimpses of the past" by the Shakespearean scholar, historian and publisher of The Penny Magazine, Knight's Weekly Volumes, and numerous works for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. From the collection of Dr. William J. Kerr (1889-1965), professor and chair of the UCSF Department of Medicine and founder of the Gold-Headed Cane Society. These volumes have been passed down in the Kerr family, as evidenced by bookplates of Robert Malcolm Kerr on the inside fronts and ink inscriptions by C.H.M. Kerr, dated 5 June 1881, on the front free endpapers. Moderate edge wear to boards with minor loss to the leather corners.