A House of Pomegranates
Osgood McIlvaine, 1891.
First edition. Original brown cloth with green cloth spine titled in gilt. Binding designed by Charles Ricketts with orange arabesque designs and titles and vignettes of a peacock, fountain and pomegranates to the upper cover. Decorated end papers also by Ricketts. Four full page plates by Charles Shannon and chapter head and tail pieces by Ricketts. A very near fine copy with clean boards and bright gilt and just a little wear to the spine ends. Hinges perfect and internally fresh. A superb copy of a book seldom seen in nice condition.
Even by the standards of Oscar Wilde's books, this book was impracticably constructed. The book was to have ivory linen covered boards, which soon were stained brown by the glue attaching them to the boards.
Then Shannon's four plates were "printed in Paris by some 'improved' process. After the book was finished and bound it was noticed that a dusty deposit has formed on each plate, probably owing to some impurity either in the printer's ink or in the chalky paper used. To take off this deposit each plate was rubbed with a soft flannel, which removed the surface and left the reproductions faint and in some cases almost obliterated." (Mason)
The book is printed on heavy, coated stock making the hinges particularly fragile, all of which makes well preserved copies very hard to come by.
Mason 347
Stock ID: 44920
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