Cloth binding for ‘Wordsworth’s Poems for the Young’

1866

Cloth binding gilt, with chromolithographic inserts

7¼ x 5½ inches

This anonymous cloth binding is a typical example of the emphasis on enticing the juvenile reader by presenting images in colour. The illustrations, by John Pettie and Millais, are in black and white, and it is almost as if the book makes a promise of visual pleasure that is not fulfilled. Purely the product of industrial techniques, the cover projects a notion of bespoke preciousness. A variant binding, it is far more ostentatious than John Leighton’s primary edition.

Scan and text by Simon Cooke [Click on image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

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