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R. E. M. PEACHTHE LIFE AND TIMES OF RALPH ALLEN OF PRIOR PARK, BATHA Documented Cedric Chivers Commission with Original Artwork by Samuel Poole
London: David Nutt, 1895
First Edition
Signed Full Morocco Leather Binding by Cedric Chivers of Bath
Original Signed Watercolor by Samuel Poole
Original Portrait Drawing of Ralph Allen by Samuel Poole
Samuel Poole Autograph Letter Signed on Cedric Chivers Letterhead
Contemporary Manuscript Record of the Commission
J. Leigh Jones Provenance
A remarkable and apparently unique bespoke copy of R. E. M. Peach’s The Life and Times of Ralph Allen of Prior Park, Bath, specially bound by Cedric Chivers of Bath and enriched with two original works of art by Samuel Poole, together with an autograph letter from Poole on Chivers company stationery documenting the commission.
The volume forms an unusually coherent survival from the Chivers workshop.
The book concerns one of the defining figures of Georgian Bath; it was bound in Bath by one of the city’s most important artistic binderies; its additional illustrations were executed by Samuel Poole, Chivers’s chief designer; and the surviving correspondence directly connects the artist, artwork, bindery, and original owner.
Poole is independently documented as a painter and illuminator employed by Cedric Chivers Ltd. as the firm’s chief designer. His work for Chivers included the design of artistic bindings and illuminated manuscripts.
This is therefore considerably more than an attractively rebound copy of a Bath history. It is a documented Chivers workshop commission incorporating original artwork and manuscript evidence of its creation.
SIGNED CEDRIC CHIVERS FULL MOROCCO BINDING
Bound in full warm terracotta or salmon morocco leather by Cedric Chivers of Bath.
The binding is restrained but elegant, with the formal finish characteristic of a high-quality private commission.
Features include:
- Full morocco leather
- Triple gilt fillet borders to both boards
- Five raised spine bands
- Gilt urn ornaments within the spine compartments
- Gilt spine lettering
- Date 1895 gilt at the foot
- Gilt-ruled board edges and turn-ins
- Marbled endpapers
- Top edge gilt
- Fore and lower edges left untrimmed
- Signed Cedric Chivers binder’s stamp
The warm leather and simple geometrical gilt decoration give the volume a handsome late-Victorian private-library appearance.
This is not one of Chivers’s later pictorial vellucent bindings. Rather, it represents the firm’s more traditional bespoke full-morocco work, made especially significant here by the accompanying artwork and correspondence from one of Chivers’s own designers.
ORIGINAL SIGNED WATERCOLOR BY SAMUEL POOLE
Inserted as the frontispiece is an original signed watercolor by Samuel Poole, depicting:
Bath from Prior Park
The subject could hardly be more appropriate.
Prior Park was Ralph Allen’s great Palladian estate overlooking Bath, and the watercolor visually links the biography with the landscape most closely associated with its subject.
The work is executed in delicate watercolor and appears to have been produced specifically for this copy.
The survival of an original Poole watercolor within a documented Chivers commission is particularly appealing, as Poole is closely associated with the artistic production of the Chivers bindery. He exhibited as a painter and illuminator and worked for Chivers as chief designer.
ORIGINAL PORTRAIT DRAWING OF RALPH ALLEN
Also inserted is an original sepia portrait drawing of Ralph Allen by Samuel Poole.
The portrait was supplied in connection with the preparation of the volume and is specifically referred to in the accompanying correspondence.
Together, the portrait and landscape create a deliberate visual program centered on:
Ralph Allen + Prior Park + Bath
rather than being unrelated later additions.
SAMUEL POOLE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED
Of exceptional interest is an autograph letter signed by Samuel Poole, written on Cedric Chivers Ltd. letterhead.
The letter refers to payment connected with the work and to the portrait of Ralph Allen.
Its importance is substantial because it directly associates:
- Samuel Poole
- Cedric Chivers Ltd.
- The added portrait
- The commissioning process
- The original owner
This transforms the book from merely an attributed artistic binding into a documented workshop object.
The letter provides primary evidence for the circumstances under which at least part of the volume’s artistic embellishment was produced.
J. LEIGH JONES COMMISSION PROVENANCE
The volume also contains a contemporary manuscript note by its original owner, J. Leigh Jones, recording details of the commission and purchase.
Jones’s bookplate is present, and his address is recorded as:
Chatswood, New South Wales
The combination of the manuscript note and Poole’s letter gives the volume unusually strong provenance.
Rather than reconstructing its history from stylistic evidence alone, the book retains documentary material relating directly to its creation.
A REMARKABLY COHERENT BATH ASSOCIATION COPY
The most compelling feature of this copy is the extraordinary relationship between all of its constituent parts.
It brings together:
- A biography of Ralph Allen
- The history of Prior Park
- The history of Bath
- A binding executed in Bath by Cedric Chivers
- Original artwork by Samuel Poole
- A watercolor view from Prior Park
- A portrait of Ralph Allen
- A letter from Poole on Chivers letterhead
- A contemporary manuscript record of the commission
Few specially bound books retain such a complete relationship between text, place, binder, artist, artwork, correspondence, and original ownership.
It should therefore be regarded not simply as a fine binding but as a surviving artifact of the Cedric Chivers artistic workshop.
SAMUEL POOLE AND CEDRIC CHIVERS
Samuel Poole (1871–1947) was a British painter and illuminator who studied at Heatherley’s and exhibited at institutions including the Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, and Royal Institute of Oil Painters.
He was employed by Cedric Chivers Ltd. as chief designer and was involved in both artistic bookbinding and illuminated manuscript work.
Poole’s role within the Chivers operation is independently demonstrated by surviving museum bindings. The Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, for example, attributes the design of a 1902 Chivers-bound edition of Shakespeare’s The Tempest to Samuel Poole, with the binding executed at the Chivers bindery.
That documented professional relationship makes the original artwork and letter contained in the present volume considerably more significant.
RALPH ALLEN AND PRIOR PARK
Ralph Allen was one of the central figures in the transformation of eighteenth-century Bath.
A postmaster, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and stone proprietor, Allen accumulated substantial wealth through postal contracts and played a major role in improving the organization of Britain’s postal system.
He later acquired extensive Bath stone interests and built Prior Park, the great Palladian mansion overlooking the city.
Allen’s circle included some of the most important literary, political, and ecclesiastical figures of Georgian Britain, including:
- Alexander Pope
- Bishop William Warburton
- Henry Fielding
- Beau Nash
Prior Park remains one of the architectural landmarks associated with Georgian Bath. Modern scholarship continues to emphasize Allen’s importance to the city’s postal, architectural, industrial, and cultural development.
THE BOOK
Robert Edward Myhill Peach
The Life and Times of Ralph Allen of Prior Park, Bath, Introduced by a Short Account of Lyncombe and Widcombe, with Notices of His Contemporaries, Including Bishop Warburton, Bennet of Widcombe House, Beau Nash, Etc.
London: David Nutt, 1895.
First edition.
The standard edition comprises xvi, 247 pages, with illustrations and a portrait, and includes the pedigree of the Bennet family.
The printed illustrations are by Walter Rossiter.
Peach’s study remains an important nineteenth-century source for Ralph Allen and the social and architectural history of Georgian Bath.
UNIQUE MATERIAL IN THIS COPY
This copy contains:
- Original signed watercolor by Samuel Poole
- View of Bath from Prior Park
- Original portrait drawing of Ralph Allen by Samuel Poole
- Samuel Poole autograph letter signed
- Letter written on Cedric Chivers Ltd. stationery
- Contemporary manuscript record of the commission by J. Leigh Jones
- J. Leigh Jones bookplate
- Signed full-morocco leather binding by Cedric Chivers of Bath
These additions appear to have been conceived as part of a coordinated private commission rather than accumulated randomly by a later collector.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Author: R. E. M. Peach
Full name: Robert Edward Myhill Peach
Title: The Life and Times of Ralph Allen of Prior Park, Bath
Publisher: David Nutt
Place: London
Date: 1895
Edition: First edition
Pagination: xvi, 247 pages
Format: Large square octavo
Printed illustrator: Walter Rossiter
Binder: Cedric Chivers, Bath
Original artist: Samuel Poole
Added material: Two original artworks and autograph letter
Binding: Full terracotta morocco leather, gilt
Edges: Top edge gilt; others untrimmed
Endpapers: Marbled
Provenance: J. Leigh Jones, Chatswood, New South Wales
CONDITION
Near fine overall.
The signed full morocco leather binding remains particularly bright and attractive.
The leather shows only minor age-related rubbing and handling wear, chiefly at the corners, raised bands, joints, and extremities.
The boards remain clean and handsome, with the gilt fillet borders bright and well defined.
The spine retains strong color, with the gilt lettering, decorative urn tools, raised bands, and date clearly preserved.
The joints and hinges are sound and the binding remains firmly attached.
The marbled endpapers remain attractive.
Internally, the text is generally clean and well preserved.
The original Samuel Poole watercolor remains bright, with attractive color and good detail.
The original portrait drawing, Poole autograph letter, manuscript commission note, and J. Leigh Jones bookplate are all present and well preserved.
Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description and show the binding, original watercolor, portrait drawing, autograph letter, provenance material, and representative pages.
COLLECTING INTEREST
Of particular interest to collectors of:
- Cedric Chivers
- Samuel Poole
- Signed fine bindings
- British bookbinding
- Arts and Crafts book arts
- Original artwork in books
- Artist-designed bindings
- Autograph letters
- Extra-illustrated books
- Bath history
- Ralph Allen
- Prior Park
- Georgian architecture
- Somerset history
- Provenance and association copies
A remarkable documented Cedric Chivers commission, combining a signed full-morocco binding with two original works by Chivers chief designer Samuel Poole, an autograph letter from Poole on Chivers stationery, and contemporary manuscript evidence of the original commission.
The unusually close connection between Ralph Allen, Prior Park, Bath, Cedric Chivers, Samuel Poole, and the original owner makes this an exceptionally coherent and apparently unique survival from one of the most important English artistic binderies of the period.
