THIS NEEDS TO BE RESTORED. THIS DESERVES TO BE RESTORED.
I've tried to take a lot of photos. My goal is for customers to know exactly what the item is, and is not.
The Pluses:
- Personalized: Alexander and Margaret Gibson (Plattsburgh NY area? Canada?). No doubt sold as a very expensive offering.
- All pages gilt-edged on all 3 sides
- Includes original cross-stitched page marker (probably received as a gift) that was protruding from this Bible (you can see that the top part that stuck out dried a lot; the rest did not).
- Profusely illustrated with full-page steel-cut engravings
- Leather covers present
- Leather spine mostly present (>98%?)
- Fancy decorative endpages present
The Minuses:
- Text pages loose from binding
- Binding very dry and fragile
- Wear of leading page edges and general foxing/browning as you'd expect from this era
- In my unprofessional opinion, this needs the skills/attention of a professional experienced in re-binding antique books
This was published by 'Virtue and Yorston' publishers, of New York City (12 Dey Street). I can't find the date, but similar editions of this Bible published by them are listed as 1860-1880.
I think there's about 1620 numbered pages, and then about 75 additional pages after that.
I put the page marker in a separate Zip-Loc bag and held the cover and spine in place with three loose-fitting rubber bands. I'll put the whole Bible in a closed plastic bag and pad around THAT for shipping. My approach to shipping is to pad things tightly enough so that they won't move about in transit but not SO tightly that they get damaged by the packing material. This is a large and heavy volume, weighing almost 20 lbs. by itself, but fortunately USPS Media Mail looks only at the weight, not the distance. This makes it much more affordable.
If you have questions or want other photos, please let me know and I'll do my best to get what you need.