{"product_id":"the-court-album-a-series-of-portraits-of-the-female-aristocracy-1st-ed","title":"The Court Album: A Series of Portraits of the Female Aristocracy — 1st Ed","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublication:\u003c\/b\u003e London, David Bogue, 1856\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormatting:\u003c\/b\u003e 4to, unpaginated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Report:\u003c\/b\u003e Near Fine. The publisher’s original green cloth remains remarkably vibrant, with the elaborate gilt and blind stamping to the front board presenting as brilliantly unoxidised and sharp, reflecting minimal handling. The spine ends and corner tips exhibit only the faintest traces of superficial shelf-wear, while the heavy bevelled boards remain perfectly rigid and true. The binding itself is sound and square, holding the text block firmly without any of the sagging typically seen in heavy Victorian gift books. Internally, the yellow coated endpapers are well-preserved, bearing a single neat ownership signature to the front free endpaper, alongside some mild, scattered foxing primarily confined to the preliminary leaves and margins, which is customary for the heavy plate paper of this era. The text block's gilt edges remain exceptionally bright and unmarred, capping off a superlative survival of a delicate nineteenth-century production.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCatalogue Note:\u003c\/b\u003e This volume is an exceptional example of Victorian gift-book publishing, featuring a striking publisher's green cloth binding designed by the celebrated artist John Leighton. His iconic 'JL' monogram is discreetly incorporated into the intricate gilt tooling on the lower portion of the front board's central design. The boards are heavily bevelled, reflecting the premium nature of this production.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work is profusely illustrated with high-quality steel engravings, portraits of the female aristocracy, typically engraved by leading artists of the period after drawings by John Hayter, with the text printed by Thomas Harrild. A neat contemporary ownership signature (\"Hesketh\") is present in ink on the front free endpaper. While individual detached plates from this series frequently circulate on the open market, finding intact, bound editions from this specific year in such a remarkable state of preservation is distinctly uncommon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA quintessential Victorian 'drawing-room book', \u003ci\u003eThe Court Album\u003c\/i\u003e was an annual publication that offered an exclusive glimpse into the highest echelons of British society. This edition presents a series of exquisite steel-engraved portraits of the era's most prominent female aristocrats, accompanied by biographical sketches and genealogical histories. Designed to be displayed and admired, volumes such as this were highly fashionable symbols of taste and gentility in the mid-nineteenth century, blending exceptional artistic engraving with the era's fascination with nobility and courtly life.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Broadhursts Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54628741874003,"sku":"5183","price":170.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/1469\/6787\/files\/20260811_143512.jpg?v=1787131881","url":"https:\/\/broadhurstsbooks.com\/products\/the-court-album-a-series-of-portraits-of-the-female-aristocracy-1st-ed","provider":"Broadhursts Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}