1919 SHELLEY COMPLETE POEMS RIVIERE & SON RED MOROCCO LEATHER FINE BINDING For Sale

A handsome collected edition of the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley, finely bound in full red straight-grain morocco leather by the celebrated London bindery Riviere & Son.

The binding is identified by the firm’s discreet ink stamp:

BOUND BY RIVIERE & SON

The volume was published in London by Humphrey Milford for the Oxford University Press in 1919 and edited with extensive textual notes by Thomas Hutchinson.

This substantial edition includes Shelley’s major dramatic, political and lyrical poetry, including:

Prometheus Unbound
Queen Mab
Alastor
Adonais
The Mask of Anarchy
Ode to the West Wind
To a Skylark
Ozymandias
Hymn to Intellectual Beauty
The Cloud
Epipsychidion
Hellas

The book is illustrated with an engraved portrait frontispiece of Shelley after the painting by George Clint, protected by its original tissue guard.

Finely bound in full red straight-grain morocco leather.

The upper and lower covers are framed by multiple gilt fillets surrounding a broad gilt ornamental roll, with elaborate floral and foliate cornerpieces.

The spine has five raised bands and six compartments. The compartments are richly decorated in gilt with floral devices, small stars, dots and scrolling corner ornaments. A contrasting morocco lettering label reads:

SHELLEY’S
POETICAL
WORKS

The interior features unusually wide gilt-decorated leather turn-ins or dentelles surrounding marbled pastedowns and matching marbled endleaves.

All page edges are gilt.

The combination of full red morocco, extensive gilt tooling, wide dentelles, marbled endleaves and gilt edges makes this an attractive example of traditional English fine binding.

Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley
Editor: Thomas Hutchinson, M.A.
Title: The Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Including Materials Never Before Printed in Any Edition of the Poems
Publisher: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press
Place: London
Date: 1919
Pagination: xxiv, 912 pages
Illustration: Engraved portrait frontispiece with tissue guard
Binding: Full red straight-grain morocco leather by Riviere & Son
Page edges: All edges gilt
Dimensions: Approximately 7¾ × 5½ inches

A handsome and structurally sound copy. The red morocco remains vivid overall, and the gilt decoration on the covers, spine and inner dentelles remains bright and visually impressive.

There is slight rubbing and abrasion at the extremities. The leather in these areas shows surface loss and a somewhat fibrous or friable appearance, potentially consistent with localized early red rot.

Additional rubbing, darkening and gilt loss are present along the raised bands, spine edges and joints. The headcap is worn, with exposed and roughened leather along the upper edge.

The boards remain firmly attached, and the binding is sound. The wide gilt dentelles are well preserved, with only minor rubbing. The marbled pastedowns and endleaves remain attractive, with a few small marks and areas of ordinary age-related wear.

The gilt page edges remain bright, with natural streaking, light scratches and minor surface wear.

Internally, the pages are generally clean and well preserved, with light age toning and occasional minor spotting or handling marks. The engraved portrait frontispiece and tissue guard are present.

Please examine all photographs carefully, particularly the detailed images of the headcap, spine edges and leather wear. The photographs form an important part of the condition description.

Riviere & Son was one of the leading English trade binderies of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, producing finely bound books for collectors, private libraries and major booksellers.

This volume combines a substantial Oxford edition of Shelley’s poetry with a signed luxury binding featuring full morocco leather, elaborate gilt tooling, wide inner dentelles, marbled endleaves and gilt page edges.

An attractive collector’s copy of one of the central poets of the English Romantic movement, well suited to a collection of Shelley, Romantic literature, fine bindings or decorative leather-bound books.