SPECIMENS OF BOOKBINDING. — Original bookbinder’s sample, “Specimens of Bookbinding”, representing the choice on offer to prospective customers, including calf and buckram bindings, morocco title labels in contrasting colours, raised bands, gilt tooling and lettering.

[c. 1890’s.] The board (300 x 320 mm) features four examples of spines (230 x 45 mm), the whole backed with marbled paper to represent the endpapers (corners rubbed), at the head of the board is a large black morocco label with a gilt boarder entitled “Specimens of Bookbindings”, plus three additional separate models of spines. This has the appearance of being dated to the 1890’s with the titles on the dummy samples being of Dickens novels and periodicals (i.e. Strand Magazine, Sunday at Home, etc.). However, the sample “Stand Magazine” is lettered Jan.-June 1921.