Among the Most Wonderful Modern Bindings
We Have Ever Seen, with 226 Jewels

(BINDINGS - JEWELLED). MOORE, THOMAS.

LALLA ROOKH: AN ORIENTAL ROMANCE.

(London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1817). 292 x 222 mm (11 1/2 x 8 3/4"). 2 p.l., 405, [1] pp. FIRST EDITION.

NOTHING SHORT OF SPECTACULAR EARLY 20TH CENTURY DARK BLUE LEVANT MOROCCO, EXTRAVAGANTLY GILT, RICHLY INLAID, AND GLORIOUSLY BEJEWELLED, BY SANGORSKI & SUTCLIFFE (stamp-signed on front doublure), the binding with an overall Oriental design (befitting the poem), with the upper cover featuring a sunken central panel, its unusual nine-sided shape resembling a clump of hanging grapes, within which two birds of paradise, inlaid in lilac, green, and brown morocco and WITH TWO RUBIES for eyes, perch in a grape arbor, its inlaid leaves and fruit clusters on a densely stippled gilt ground accented with 19 TURQUOISES, the whole central tableau surrounded by a border of interweaving bands of inlaid brown morocco set with NINE BANDS OF MOTHER-OF-PEARL, the entire sunken panel surrounded by two ornate frames filled with flowering vines of Oriental design composed of hundreds of pieces of inlaid morocco in red, blue, violet, and green on a background of brown morocco and heavily stippled gilt, the outer frame accented with 20 BLUE CHALCEDONIES AND 20 GARNETS; lower cover with similar frame and central panel, this one featuring two lovebirds inlaid with multiple colors and with TWO AMETHYST EYES, the birds in a similar grape arbor above A LARGE MOTHER-OF-PEARL HEART, the panel further adorned with THREE SAPPHIRES, FOUR BLUE CHALCEDONIES, FIVE TURQUOISES, FOUR CARNELIANS, AND 10 ADDITIONAL BANDS OF MOTHER-OF-PEARL; raised bands, spine gilt in compartments with large inlaid arabesque in green and brown morocco on a gilt background, gilt titling on inlaid compartments of chestnut brown morocco; A GLORIOUS FRONT DOUBLURE OF IVORY MOROCCO COVERED IN GILT VINES WITH INLAID VIOLET MOROCCO FLOWERS, the whole framed in green morocco decorated with gilt vines and red morocco posies and berries, AT THE CENTER, A HAND-PAINTED COSWAY-STYLE PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR ON IVORY surrounded by a gilt frame with 12 flowers composed of no fewer than 72 TURQUOISES AND 36 GARNETS, the oval portrait in a sunken panel enclosed by a wreath of inlaid morocco flowers; REAR DOUBLURE of similar design, but its medallion FEATURING EIGHT AMETHYSTS set among sinuously curving inlaid lilac strapwork twining AROUND A LARGE (approximately one carat) MEXICAN FIRE OPAL ENCIRCLED BY 12 PEARLS--THE BINDING CONTAINING 226 JEWELS IN ALL; (recently replaced) free endleaves of cream-colored watered silk, gilt edges. In the original well-made (somewhat scuffed) silk- and plush-lined blue morocco box with shuttered lid. Extra-illustrated with 12 hand-colored engraved plates mounted on lettered Japan vellum. Front flyleaf with color bookplate of Charles J. Rosenbloom (see below). Ratcliffe, "Hidden Treasures," Boyle 212; Elkind, "A Census of Jewelled Bindings ca. 1900-1939," 97. Two leaves with neatly repaired marginal tears, but A MAGNIFICENT COPY OF A MASTERPIECE OF BOOKBINDING.

This is the uncommonly seen first printing of a work that provides a strong evocation of the Romantic era, offered here in a breathtaking jewelled binding that could hardly be more sumptuous. The bindery founded by Francis Sangorski and George Sutcliffe reached its zenith in the first dozen years of the 20th century, when their most gorgeous jewelled bindings were produced. The binders drew detailed designs that reflected the contents of the book in question, and even went so far as to register some of these with the Patent Office to ensure they were not copied. Stephen Ratcliffe estimates that "no more than 300 were ever produced," and given the labor-intensive process required to produce a binding like the present one, this small number is not surprising: hundreds of man-hours would have been required to craft these intricate inlays, to make the thousands of applications of gold, and to set the more than 200 jewels. This is certainly among the most wonderful bindings we have seen, let alone offered for sale, and we can say that the front doublure is simply unsurpassed in our experience for brilliant, animated, and arresting design. Not surprisingly, this volume enjoys a distinguished provenance, having once been in the unparalleled collection of jewelled bindings held by New York collector Phoebe Boyle (see item #167, below), and then in the impressive library of Pittsburgh philanthropist, art collector, and bibliophile Charles J. Rosenbloom. For Moore and "Lalla Rookh," see item #57, above. (ST11655)