Case 14 - Cloth Bindings, 1870s

Charles Dickens. The mystery of Edwin Drood. London: Chapman & Hall, 1870.

Charles Dickens. The mystery of Edwin Drood. London: Chapman & Hall, 1870.

This edition of Dickens’ last novel is bound in green fine-net grained cloth, blocked in gold and black on the front and spine and in blind on the back. The use of black ink increased in the 1870s, spreading to the spines, as seen here. Designs in general shifted towards asymmetry during the 1870s, in opposition to the symmetrical vogue of previous decades.

Charles Dickens. The mystery of Edwin Drood. London: Chapman & Hall, 1870.

Charles Dickens. The mystery of Edwin Drood. London: Chapman & Hall, 1870.
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Henry M. Stanley. How I found Livingstone: travels, adventures, and discoveries in Central Africa, including four months' residence with Dr. Livingstone. 2nd edition. London: S. Low, Marston, Low, and Searle, 1872.

Henry M. Stanley. How I found Livingstone: travels, adventures, and discoveries in Central Africa, including four months' residence with Dr. Livingstone. 2nd edition. London: S. Low, Marston, Low, and Searle, 1872.

This book is bound in dark tan pebble-grained cloth, pictorially blocked in gold and black on the front and spine, and blind on the back. It contains the binder’s ticket of W. Bone and Son.

Cloth-bound covers in general became increasingly pictorial during the 1870s, featuring onlays, vignettes, or blocked illustrations. The ‘Dr Livingstone I presume’ scene depicted here is based on an illustration within the book.

Henry M. Stanley. How I found Livingstone: travels, adventures, and discoveries in Central Africa, including four months' residence with Dr. Livingstone. 2nd edition. London: S. Low, Marston, Low, and Searle, 1872.

Henry M. Stanley. How I found Livingstone: travels, adventures, and discoveries in Central Africa, including four months' residence with Dr. Livingstone. 2nd edition. London: S. Low, Marston, Low, and Searle, 1872.
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Alice Christiana Thompson Meynell. Preludes. London: Henry S. King, 1875.

Alice Christiana Thompson Meynell. Preludes. London: Henry S. King, 1875.

This volume of poems by Alice Meynell is bound in green cloth, pictorially blocked in gold on front and spine, with bevelled edges.

Alice Christiana Thompson Meynell. Preludes. London: Henry S. King, 1875.

Alice Christiana Thompson Meynell. Preludes. London: Henry S. King, 1875.
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S.W. Christophers. The poets of Methodism. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1877.

S.W. Christophers. The poets of Methodism. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1877.

The poets of Methodism is bound in red cloth, blocked in gold and black on front and spine, and blind on the back.

S.W. Christophers. The poets of Methodism. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1877.

S.W. Christophers. The poets of Methodism. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1877.
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Gleanings from the sacred poets. Edinburgh; London: Gall & Inglis, 1877.

Gleanings from the sacred poets. Edinburgh; London: Gall & Inglis, 1877.

This volume is bound in wine-coloured cloth with white paper overlay centre-front, blocked in black, gold and green on front and spine, and blind-blocked on back. The addition of further colours, beyond gold and black, was increasingly a feature of cloth bindings from the 1870s onwards.

Gleanings from the sacred poets. Edinburgh; London: Gall & Inglis, 1877.

Gleanings from the sacred poets. Edinburgh; London: Gall & Inglis, 1877.
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