{"product_id":"richard-mant-happiness-of-the-blessed-1837-antique-half-leather-book","title":"Richard Mant Happiness of the Blessed 1837 Antique Half Leather Book","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe marbled boards on this 1837 Rivington edition are the first thing you notice, a bold shell pattern in burnt ochre and brown with threads of green running through it, and they set up the gilt-tooled calf spine beautifully. Richard Mant was Bishop of Down and Connor and a serious Anglican scholar, and this fourth edition of his meditation on the nature of heavenly life reflects exactly the kind of thoughtful, literary theology that Rivington published so well in the 1830s. The book moves through questions that were genuinely pressing to its first readers: what do the blessed experience, do they recognize one another, are there degrees of joy? Mant answers in prose and verse both, which gives the interior a rhythm that holds up to reading even now. Two ownership inscriptions place this copy in the hands of the Campbell family, née Pakenham, with a later descendant noting in a second hand that the first owner was her great-grandmother. It is the kind of provenance that makes a book feel inhabited rather than merely old.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-pre-wrap\"\u003e[d]Author | Richard Mant, D.D., M.R.I.A., Lord Bishop of Down and Connor [d]Title | The Happiness of the Blessed [d]Publisher | J.G. \u0026amp; F. Rivington, London [d]Date | 1837 [d]Edition | Fourth Edition, With Additions [d]Binding | Half calf with marbled paper boards, gilt-tooled spine, red morocco title label [d]Dimensions | 7.25 in H x 4.5 in W x 0.5 in D [d]Language | English [d]Origin | United Kingdom [d]Inscription | Ex Libris inscription to front flyleaf: Joan Esther Sybella Campbell, née Pakenham; later family inscription to rear flyleaf noting descent\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-pre-wrap\"\u003e[condition] The binding is structurally sound with the text block tight and square. The calf spine shows age-appropriate toning and light surface wear; the gilt tooling remains legible throughout with good overall impression. The red morocco title label is intact and fully legible. The marbled paper boards show rubbing and surface loss to the extremities, consistent with nearly two centuries of handling, most notably at the corners and along the board edges. The interior pages are clean and cream-toned with no significant foxing observed. There is a period inscription on the title page, contents not fully legible. The front flyleaf carries the Ex Libris ownership inscription in ink, and the rear flyleaf carries a second family inscription in ink, both clear. A presentable and honest copy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Austyn Marie Design","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51400014823702,"sku":"AMD-03104","price":165.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0896\/4623\/5926\/files\/June_2026_drews_books-7821.jpg?v=1781034833","url":"https:\/\/austynmariedesign.com\/products\/richard-mant-happiness-of-the-blessed-1837-antique-half-leather-book","provider":"Austyn Marie Design","version":"1.0","type":"link"}