Books

Westminster (London): Archibald Constable and Company, 1895. Forty-eight volumes, 16mo., uniformly bound in quarter-vellum over olive green boards. The vellum spines are elaborately tooled in gilt with the Scottish lion surrounded by a handsome Art Nouveau design. Top edges gilt. Each volume with engraved frontispiece and title page. This set is fairly common in cloth but quite rare in the deluxe bindings of half-vellum. Aside from some minor soiling and wear, this is a fine treasure of a set, boldly handsome when seen side by side in the library. There are few things more satisfying in book collecting than the mellow warmth and rich glow of smooth vellum adorned with deep, old gilt..and this set certainly illustrates the point!

The novel 'Waverley' by Walter Scott is regarded as the first historical novel in the English language, blending history with fiction to portray the Jacobite uprising of 1745.