Book of Common Prayer; Bound by Edwards of Halifax
Paris: P. Didot for Edwards of Halifax, 1791. Full Vellum extra gilt hand coloured. The Book of Common Prayer, Paris: P. Didot for W. Edwards and Sons, Halifax, 1791.
8vo (146 x 84 mm). CONTEMPORARY VELLUM BY EDWARDS OF HALIFAX, covers with Greek key roll border on a blue wash background within gilt fillets, starburst corner pieces gilt, enclosing a leafy foliage gilt border, smooth spines gilt–lettered on a blue wash background and gilt–stamped with Greek harps and various small tools, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, contemporary fore–edge painting of St. Martin’s Church in Canterbury.
[Fore-Edge Painting] Of St. Martin’s Church in Canterbury, a beautiful country scene of the Church, of this particular imprint it states in Carl Weber’s “a Thousand and One Fore-Edge Paintings, page 139 [paragraph 8] 6 copies found in collections. These being particularly important as the books were printed, published, bound, fore-edge painted and sold by Edwards, showing their dedication to producing and selling amazing books and bindings as literary items and art work all in one. This would make an unrecorded copy to my knowledge not stated in the above-mentioned reference work or in Jeff Webbers Annotated dictionary of Fore-Edge Paintings.
[Edwards Of Halifax] The craftsmen behind design features that occupy a position of considerable importance in the history of bookbinding, the Edwards of Halifax bindery was founded by William Edwards (1723-1808) and continued by several of his brothers, half-brothers, and sons (by far the most important of the sons being Thomas, who lived from 1762-1834). This famous firm produced a number of important innovations in binding design, the most significant being the idea of concealing a painting under the gilt of the fore edge. This hidden treasure could be revealed, once the edge was fanned out, as a special surprise element of the volumes they bound--typically in Etruscan calf, as here, or in their patented transparent vellum. Although bindings produced by the Edwards workshop are never signed, the present item is such an absolutely characteristic example of Edwards work that Weber cites it in a chapter devoted to distinguishing genuine Edwards bindings from the work of imitators. Especially telling here are the soft-hued colors in the paintings, a feature much less imitated than other aspects of Edwards volumes. While fore-edge paintings likely produced at the Edwards bindery (and especially produced by their imitators) appear in the marketplace with some regularity, most offered are octavo or duodecimo in size. Of the fore-edge paintings attributed to Edwards of Halifax that have appeared in RBH over the past 65 years,
Provenance: Elizabeth Buckle (early signature dated 2 April 1810).
Near Perfect Condition. Near Fine. Item #510
Price (USD): $3,800.00