Maitland Historical Charades 1847 Antique Morocco Leather Book
Maitland Historical Charades 1847 Antique Morocco Leather Book
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That gilt border on the boards stops you before you even open it. The binding on this copy of Julia Charlotte Maitland's Historical Charades is not standard issue — the typical 1847 copies appear in plain black calf, and this one has been dressed in brown morocco with an elaborate gilt-tooled border of diamonds and scrollwork, floral corner ornaments, and gilt dentelles inside the boards. Someone had this bound as a gift, and the care they took shows. Maitland published the book anonymously, as "the Author of Letters from Madras," which was itself a modestly famous account of her years in colonial India. Historical Charades is a different kind of project: a parlor game book built around British history, structured as an acted charade game for family Christmas gatherings. The charades move through medieval kings, early modern intrigue, and Victorian public life, and the framing device, a house party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Percy, gives it warmth that lifts it above a dry educational exercise. The Polthorp Royal Library ticket on the front pastedown places this copy in Brighton's fashionable lending circuit in the mid-Victorian era, and it is, by dealer accounts, very scarce in commerce in any form.
The binding shows honest wear consistent with its age and its life as a circulating library copy. The spine is significantly rubbed, with the gilding worn across the compartments and fraying at the head. The board corners show wear. The gilt border tooling on the boards retains good definition throughout, and the gilt dentelles inside the boards remain clear. The text block is clean and bright with minimal foxing — one small spot visible in the interior pages, nothing of consequence. The Polthorp Royal Library ticket is present and legible on the front pastedown. A sound, displayable copy of a very scarce book in a notably decorative binding.
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