London, Hilton & Truscott Smith / New York, Minton, Balch & Co., 1926. First edition.
Number 58 of edition limited to 625 copies.
Hardcover. Three quarter morocco leather over green cloth, gilt spine lettering, gilt top edges, decled fore and bottom edges, folio (15.5 x 11.5 inches), 17 pages of text followed by 64 plates on thick paper, each with accompanying explanatory text on guard Sheet.
The inserted typed note states that this volume is “From the Rosenbach Collection”.
Abraham Simon Wolf Rosenbach (July 22, 1876 – July 1, 1952) was an American collector, scholar, and dealer in rare books and manuscripts. In London, where he frequently attended the auctions at Sotheby's, he was known as "The Terror of the Auction Room." In Paris, he was called "Le Napoléon des Livres" ("The Napoleon of Books"). Many others referred to him as "Dr. R.", a "Robber Baron" and "the Greatest Bookdealer in the World".
CONDITION:
Good Covers / Near Fine Contents. (The boards have shelf wear, light soil, moderate wear at corners.
The spine leather is damaged and heavily worn at the joint with the front board. A 2.5 inch section of the original spine leather is missing at the top of the spine and is replaced by a leather patch. A 0.5 inch section at the bottom of the spine is chipped and worn.
The Contents are complete and intact. The half-title page has moderate spotting; the title page has very light spotting, and the Preface has a very small spot (0.2”). Otherwise, all of the other text pages and all of the plates and guards are in Fine condition.)