Red morocco binding with silver hardware; 1838 Christ in der Andacht...

Beautiful silver hardware decorates this handsome 19th century German red morocco binding, which is richly tooled in gilt, housing an 1838 devotional Der Christ in der Andacht mit der heiligen kirche.

I must note the red morocco leather - although it largely resembles straight-grain morocco examples, on close examination, the straight grain is actually more of a stamped/lozenged/diapered design, which reflects the light beautifully.

The silver is hallmarked, with three stars in/over a shield, and the maker's mark "I.P.P.". I did not succeed in finding who this maker was. The up and down scribed mark is the assayer's mark, for Germany, which makes sense because this work was published in Regensberg, Germany.

I would call design of the silver, "rococo", which stems from the root word "rocaille" (translated as shellwork); see the shell behind the cherubim's head, and several other shell-like designs can be seen (top and bottom, notably).

Bibliographic Details -

Worldcat OCLC catalogue number 1424556325; only one copy listed in the Staatliche Bibliothek Passau.

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 17 x 10 x 3.5 cm. Red morocco leather binding in the straight-grain style (but a variant). Boards framed richly in gilt fillets and a roll of connected fronds. The inner frames have corners of flowers and scrollwork/ribbons. Four raised bands to the spine. The spine is in a diapered (diamondlike) design the top and bottom compartment being geometric, and the middle being diamonds with flowers at each intersection. All edges of the text block are gilt. Red and white enbads. Silver medallions to both boards, connecting to the silver clasp; these medallions are nailed to the boards and consists of a central angelic winged figure, surrounded by shells and fronds. The clasp is stout and also has the maker's mark and assayer's mark, between the two holes.

Pages - frontis, 1-286

The frontis illustrated with a portrait of Jesus wearing the crown of thorns.

Condition -

See pictures. The pressure from the clasp has cracked the joints of the leather, front more than rear. Very clean binding, but still, with some fading/darkening to gilt from time/handling. A little wear at corners of binding. Frontis has a very small moisture mark at the bottom edge. A little thumbing to first few pages. Some toning, typical to the paper of the time, throughout. No annotations. Pages 150-180 just bumped at top corner. There's an initial on the rear endpapers.