3/4 LEATHER. THE HINGES ARE HOLDING BUT THE BOARDS MUST BE SUPPORTED. (I did not open the book without a support holding the board up a few inches). THEY ARE CLEARLY WEAKENING AND SINCE THE BOOK HAS LIKELY NOT BEEN OPENED IN THE PAST HUNDRED OR SO YEARS, I WOULD EXPECT THAT ANY USE WOULD RESULT IN A QUICKER FAILURE. THE EDGES OF THE LEATHER ON THE BOARD CORNERS IS WORN AND SCRAPED UP, BUT THE SPINE LOOKS GREAT. THE BOOKBINDER DID NOT KNOW HOW TO IDENTIFY THIS SO THE TITLE IS SIMPLY "MISCELLANEOUS".  

THIS CONSISTS OF ELEVEN BOOKS INDIVIDUALLY PURCHASED WITHOUT BOARDS AND BOUND TOGETHER FOR THE LITTLE OWNER, WHO PROBABLY PICKED HER ELEVEN FAVORITES. NO WRITING FOUND EXCEPT FOR AN OWNER NAME AT THE TOP OF ONE OF THE STORIES, IN PENCIL. EACH OF THE ELEVEN BOOKS IS ILLUSTRATED AND IS LISTED AS A "NEW EDITION". NO TEARS OR HARD CREASES FOUND.

(PHOTO 1) shows the titles available as of the last story bound in this book. They give the prices but with "cloth extra", meaning that the purchase price was for a printed book with no covers.  At that point, there were 38 stories, but there were only 15 stories available at the time that the first story in this volume "Only a Tramp" was printed. It appears that they published one story a month, so this collection was obtained over a period of a few years. Given that they could afford a leather binding, it appears that this may have been a monthly reading subscription list for little girls from at least moderately wealthy families. 

NOTHING HERE IS DATED AND I AM BASING THE DATE ON THE PUBLICATION DATES I WAS ABLE TO FIND FOR SOME OF THE STORIES IN THE LIST. Several of these authors wrote hundreds of books for girls and are very well known, though finding these stories physically in print anywhere is very difficult.

THE ELEVEN BOOKS BOUND TOGETHER ARE:

1- ONLY A TRAMP by Grace Stebbing- first published by J.F Shaw in 1880
2- THE THREE CHUMS by M.L. Ridley
3- OUTCAST ROBIN; YOUR BROTHER AND MINE by L.T Meade (Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Smith) - first published by Shaw in 1878
4- THE LOST JEWEL by A.L.O.E (Charlotte Maria Tucker) - first published by Shaw in 1860
5- CRIPPLE JESS- THE HOP PICKER'S DAUGHTER by Louise Marston - first published by Shaw in 1882
6- ROB AND MAG - A LITTLE LIGHT IN A DARK CORNER by Louise Marston- first published by Shaw in 1881
7- SILVERDALE RECTORY or THE GOLDEN LINKS by Grace Stebbing- first published by Shaw in 1880- Owner name on top of title page.
8- DOT AND HER TREASURES by L.T Meade- first published by Shaw in 1879
9- THE EMPEROR'S BOYS by Ismay Thorn (Edith Carol Pollock)
10- MARJORIE AND MURIEL: TWO LONDON HOMES- by Evelyn Everett Green
11- DAVID'S LITTLE LAD by L.T Meade - first published by Shaw in 1877

THE LAST DATE THAT I FOUND, FROM THOSE WHERE I COULD IDENTIFY A DATE, WAS 1882. Several of these author's wrote hundreds of books for young girls during the latter quarter of the 19th Century and much of that work disappeared because they are often only found in these books that were sold without bindings.

It is worth noting that every one of the stories in this volume was written by a woman.

EACH STORY TENDS TO BE ABOUT 60 DOUBLE COLUMNED PAGES IN THIS 7" X 9.75" BOOK, WHICH WOULD TRANSLATE INTO ABOUT 175 PAGES IN A SMALL BOOK.  OTHER THAN THE SCRAPED LEATHER ON THE BOARD CORNERS AND THE QUICKLY WEAKENING HINGES, THIS BOOK IS EXTREMELY WELL MAINTAINED WITH VERY SCARCE ORIGINAL STORIES. 

PLEASE USE ZOOM FUNCTION ON ALL PHOTOS.







denglass

PLEASE NOTE: For book sales, I virtually always include a vinyl bag tightly wrapped on the exterior. This is an attempt to prevent any USPS employee from opening the package for inspection as it would be time consuming for them to repackage it. This is done simply because my packaging is done more carefully than their repackaging and also to protect the book from the elements. The vinyl bag covers cardboard protection and you can simply cut the  bag open (carefully) and remove the contents. The cardboard protection is also typically held with tape and cutting in the obvious places will allow the cardboard to pop right open, exposing the book (in another protective vinyl bag). Using this method, you should be able to open any book I send in under a minute. No "buzz saw" is required.  Thank you