WORDSWORTH, William. Poems of Wordsworth. (1879 - IN A ASPREY COSWAY BINDING)

AUTHOR: WORDSWORTH, William.

TITLE: Poems of Wordsworth.

PUBLISHER: London: Macmillan and Co., 1879.

DESCRIPTION: IN A FINE ASPREY COSWAY BINDING. 1 vol., 8" x 5", limited to 750 copies, bound in fine full red morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spine, covers ruled and paneled in gilt, elaborate gilt corner pieces, front cover with a hand painted portrait miniature under glass of Wordsworth, gilt dentelles, all edges gilt, marbled pastdowns and endpapers, by Asprey, housed in a 1/4 leather backed clamshell slipcase, ribbed gilt decorated spine, also by Asprey.

CONDITION: No previous ownership marking, inscriptions, or bookplate, all in EXCEPTIONAL condition.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Cosway bindings (named for renowned 19th-century English miniaturist Richard Cosway) were first commissioned in the early 1900s by J. H. Stonehouse, managing director of London booksellers Sotheran & Company, from the famous Riviere bindery, who employed Miss C.B. Currie to faithfully imitate Cosway's detailed watercolor style of portraiture. These delicate miniature paintings, were set into the covers or doublures of richly-tooled bindings and protected by a thin pane of glass. Cosway bindings executed by other than the original collaborators (Stonehouse, Sotheran, Riviere, and Currie) are designated as "Cosway-style" bindings.