1825 — 5 vols., sm. 8vo., on laid paper (dated 1824), with engraved portrait frontispiece, 'wreath' titles, some very light spotting and dust-soiling to text, fore-edges dusty, neat and uniform nineteenth century signature on front paste-downs; original brown [puce?] cloth, backstrips with original paper labels lettered in black, uncut and partially unopened, first volume expertly recased, third volume with small 'pull' at headband else a very good, firm set in minimally restored early cloth binding. THE SET IS COMPLETE WITH ALL HALF-TITLES. It includes Philip Masterman's 'Essay on the Life and Writings of Edmund Spenser' and an extensive glossary. The portrait is engraved by Worthington. The titles carry Pickering's distinctive 'wreath'. '[The books of Pickering's Wreath Series] possess in common an exceedingly pleasant format, and on their title-pages is his beautiful and individual wreath ornament usually [as here] with the motto 'Perennis et frgrans'. This ornament served to all intents and purposes as Pickering's 'device' in the books which he published in the years 1825 and 1826' (Keynes, pp.16-17). The work was an early product of his collaboration with co-publisher Talboys and Wheeler of Oxford. Pickering produced his first commercial cloth binding for his 'Diamond Classics' series of the early 1820s. 'He was afterwards imitated by other publishers, but the smooth red, magenta, puce or dark blue cloth used by Pickering remained for many years the distinguishing mark of his books. The innovation thus quietly made by Pickering in 1820 has had its effect on the whole subsequent history of the publishing trade in England, and but for him boards or paper covers for books might now be considered to be just as inevitable in this country as they still appear to be on the continent of Europe' (Keynes, pp.14-15). A MOST ATTRACTIVE COPY IN SPLENDID, MINIMALLY RESTORED BINDING FROM ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF PUBLISHER'S CLOTH. This copy is bound in Pickering's characteristic dark brown 'puce' shade rather than the red cloth seen by Keynes. Keynes, p.90 (with asterisk denoting 'special merit').
