Sterling Silver, Antique Flintlock Shotgun, Collectibles Estate Sale Auction
Lot 76:
Description
A multi-volume set of the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company at The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1884. These octavo-sized volumes are bound in uniform three-quarter brown leather with marbled paper-covered boards and matching marbled endpapers. The spines feature five raised bands, gilt-stamped floral and scroll decorations, and gilt lettering for the series title and individual volume titles. The base of each spine is stamped in gilt with the publisher name Houghton, Mifflin and Co. Identified volume titles include French and Italian Note-Books, Marble Faun, Our Old Home, English Note-Books, Snow Image, Etc., Tales, Sketches, Etc., Wonder-Book, Tanglewood Tales, American Note-Books, and The Blithedale Romance. The title page of The Blithedale Romance features a vignette illustration of a house and an opposite frontispiece portrait protected by a tissue guard.
Condition report:
The three-quarter leather bindings show significant rubbing, shelf wear, and minor chipping at the heads and tails of the spines (photo 1). The marbled boards exhibit edge wear and bumped corners (photo 2). Internally, heavy foxing and brown spotting are visible on the frontispiece, tissue guard, and title pages, with general toning throughout the text blocks (photo 3). A non-original purple paperclip is present on the tissue guard of one volume (photo 3).
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