Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Congreve Dis-bound, Part One

Finally, the postal system has delivered my latest online acquisition: a dis-bound copy of William Congreve's "The Way of the World," published 1777 by John Bell. The frontispiece is, alas, missing entirely, as are the remaining pages of the epilogue beyond the first. At any rate, it's still a nice piece to have; the remaining pages are crisp and tight, and only slightly yellowed with age. For something that's 1 year younger than the United States, it's in remarkable shape. Here are some pictures, including one next to a tape dispenser, to illustrate the small size of the item. It was probably a "coat pocket" edition, meant to be easily portable.







As promised, this little item is going to be featured in two posts; the reason being that I plan to take it to a restoration shop and have it re-bound, if possible. When the new cover is on, I shall post pictures of it. If I am told that re-binding is not possible, then the second part of this post will be a simple note to that effect; I sincerely hope that this is not the case, as I would love to see it with a proper binding.

Until next time, gentle readers, I bid you good day, and wish you well.

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