Poor Jack Captain Marryat Antique Leather Book 1909 Prize Binding
Poor Jack Captain Marryat Antique Leather Book 1909 Prize Binding
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Poor Jack by Captain Marryat, bound to order and formally presented as a prize or gift of honor in 1909 — the front pastedown carries a printed bookplate with the Latin inscription Hunc Librum D.D. Honoris Causa (this book given and dedicated as a mark of honor) and a manuscript date in Roman numerals: M.D.CCCC.IX. Marryat himself was a decorated Royal Navy captain who served under Lord Cochrane, and Poor Jack — first published in 1840 — draws directly on that world: a first-person naval narrative following a sailor born in 1786 through the Napoleonic era, written by someone who had actually lived it. The boards are full leather with a warm mottled finish, marbled text block edges, rope-rolled board edges, and marbled pastedowns. A single frontispiece plate. The kind of binding that was made to last and has.
The binding is structurally sound and displays well. The spine retains its gilt tooling throughout with good legibility on the titling panel. The leather across the spine compartments shows age-appropriate darkening, more pronounced toward the tail, where the spine has lifted slightly from the back board at the lower joint — a crack or separation at that point is the primary condition issue and should be examined before purchase if structural integrity is a concern. The boards themselves are firm. The leather across the front and rear boards shows the characteristic mottled finish of the period with some surface scuffing and tonal variation consistent with age and handling. The board edges retain the rope-roll impression in good condition. The marbled text block edges are present and legible. The frontispiece plate is present. The text block appears clean and tight from the images. The prize bookplate on the front pastedown is intact; the printed Latin inscription is fully legible and the manuscript date is readable. Overall a presentable copy with genuine provenance interest, sold as-is with the condition noted above.
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