c1870 HUMOROUS POETRY Gorgeous Fine Binding Leather Hand Painted Cover Gilt For Sale

The Book of Humorous Poetry. With illustrations by Charles A. Doyle. Edinburgh: William P. Nimmo, undated, circa 1870.

A particularly attractive Victorian anthology of comic, satirical, and light verse, illustrated by Charles Altamont Doyle, the Scottish artist and father of Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle.

This copy is distinguished by its unusually elaborate full brown leather binding. The beveled boards incorporate richly molded geometric decoration, gilt tooling, raised corner ornaments, and a large recessed cream-colored panel on the front cover.

The central panel appears to have been individually hand-painted, with the words “Humorous Poetry” rendered in red and green Gothic lettering amid finely executed gilt and brown linear ornament. The panel material has not been identified and is described only as an untested decorative material.

The rear board is decorated in blind with a handsome geometric design. The spine bears the gilt title “Humorous Poetry” between raised horizontal bands and gilt ornaments. All three page edges are gilt.

The volume contains humorous verse by Chaucer, Robert Burns, Lord Byron, Oliver Goldsmith, Thomas Moore, Robert Southey, John G. Saxe, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, Thomas Hood, William Cowper, Longfellow, and numerous other British and American writers.

Charles Altamont Doyle’s illustrations include an illustrated title page and a series of lively full-page comic scenes. His drawings display the eccentricity, fantasy, and densely populated visual humor for which his work is now collected.

• Title: The Book of Humorous Poetry
• Illustrator: Charles Altamont Doyle
• Publisher: William P. Nimmo
• Place of Publication: Edinburgh
• Date: Undated, circa 1870
• Pagination: xvi, 464 pages
• Language: English
• Binding: Full brown leather with raised, blind-stamped, and gilt decoration
• Front Cover: Recessed cream-colored panel with apparently hand-painted polychrome title and ornament
• Page Edges: All edges gilt
• Illustrations: Illustrated title and full-page black-and-white plates
• Edition: Early Victorian edition; no edition statement
• Binding Signature: None observed

Good antiquarian condition, with considerable decorative appeal and the following faults carefully noted.

The front free endpaper is missing. The front pastedown remains present, but the volume opens without its original free endpaper.

The leather binding shows rubbing, scuffing, and color variation, particularly along the spine, joints, raised decoration, edges, and corners. There is chipping and loss at the head of the spine, together with wear around the upper portion of the front joint. One of the raised ornamental elements at the upper-left corner of the front board has a noticeable area of abrasion and loss.

The apparently hand-painted cream-colored front panel has surface marks, discoloration, and wear, including some rubbing to the red and green lettering. The gilt decoration remains attractive but is rubbed in places.

The gilt page edges show scratching, dulling, and general handling wear. The remaining endpapers and interior leaves are age-toned, with scattered foxing, spotting, and occasional marks. The boards remain attached and the binding is intact. No owner’s inscriptions or bookplates were observed in the photographed areas.

Please examine all photographs carefully. They form an important part of the condition description.

An appealing decorative Victorian volume combining humorous literature, illustrations by Charles Altamont Doyle, and an unusually elaborate leather binding with an apparently hand-painted central cover panel.