Gaskell

Gaskell — marelibri

[Fine Binding - Zaehnsdorf] Gaskell, Mrs [Elizabeth]; Hugh Thomson (illustrator)Biblio.com

Cranford

1895ref. 6453London: Macmillan 1895. Later printing. Near Fine. Early reprint of the 1891 first Thomson illustrated edition. A Near Fine copy. Octavo 7 1/2 x 5 inches; 191 x 127 mm. Frontispiece xxx 297 1 pp. With 110 black and white illustrations in the text. Occasional foxing or staining especially on pp. 16/17; 104/105; 144/145 and 270/271. Bound in an 'Exhibition' binding by Zaehnsdorf executed in 1897 stamp-signed in gilt on front turn-in. Full crimson crushed levant morocco covers bordered in gilt and decoratively tooled in gilt and pointille in an elaborate floral design front cover lettered in gilt. Spine with five raised bands decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments gilt ruled board edgeswide and elaborate gilt decorated turn-ins ochre silk liners and end-leaves top edge gilt others uncut. The rear liner has the Zaehnsdorf 'Exhibition' stamp in gilt. Joints expertly and almost invisibly repaired one corner a little bumped still a very early and excellent example of a Zaehnsdorf 'Exhibition' binding housed in a red morocco edged felt-lined red cloth slipcase. Elizabeth Gaskell 1810-1865 was an important proto-Feminist writer who often tackled unorthodox subjects in her novels. Cranford for example is an episodic book concerning a country village community of lower and middle class unmarried older women and the social changes coming to an industrializing Victorian Britain. "The greatest charm of Cranford which has kept it unfailingly popular is its amused but loving portrait of the old-fashioned customs and 'elegant economy' of a delicately observed group of middle-aged figures in a landscape" Oxford Companion to English Literature. "Elizabeth was an active humanitarian; her novels convey many messages about the need for social reconciliation for better understanding between employers and workers and between the respectable and the outcasts of society. Her writing was carefully researched and she took particular care in reproducing northern dialects accurately" Gaskell Society. Gaskell was part of a wide literary circle: she was friends with Charlottee Bronte and John Ruskin and clashed with Charles Dickens when he edited Cranford for serialization in the magazine Household Words. In this lovely copy are images by Hugh Thomson 1860-1920 famed at the turn of the century for illustrating works by luminaries including Jane Austen and William Shakespeare. The Austro-Hungarian-born Joseph Zaehnsdorf 1816-1886 trained with binders in Stuttgart and in Vienna before moving to Germany Switzerland France and eventually settling London. He worked for various shops before opening his own bindery in 1842. In the face of industrializing production Zaehnsdorf embraced craft and eventually gained recognition for his talent. He was known for his precise finish and elegant design. The firm would continue in his son John William's capable hands; it employed binders like Louis Genth Roger de Coverly and Sarah Prideaux. Family run until 1947 it was eventually acquired by Asprey of London in 1983 Gertz. Near Fine. Macmillan unknown