1849 Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. Fine binding - Zaehnsdorf (signed)

A strong handsome signed Zaehnsdorf fine binding houses this richly illustrated edition of Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, containing 62 "embellishments". Some bibliophile history with this copy too, as the 1st blank page is stamped (at the top edge) by publisher and bookshop owner John Camden Hotten.

About the Work -

"Childe Harold's Pilgrimage is a lengthy narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. It was published between 1812 and 1818 and is dedicated to "Ianthe". The poem describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man who, disillusioned with a life of pleasure and revelry, looks for distraction in foreign lands. In a wider sense, it is an expression of the melancholy and disillusionment felt by a generation weary of the wars of the post-Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. The title comes from the term childe, a medieval title for a young man who was a candidate for knighthood." - Wikipedia

About the Binder -

“At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to Herr Knipe, a bookbinder of Stuttgart, with whom he remained five years, afterwards proceeding to Vienna, where he worked in the shop of Herr Stephan, a bookbinder in a large way of business. In 1837 he came to London, and obtained employment in the establishment of Messrs Wesley & Co., Friar Street, Doctors' Commons, for whom he worked three years. He afterwards entered the shop of Mr Mackenzie, a binder of considerable eminence, and there he remained until 1844, when he commenced business on his own account. He exhibited at the London International Exhibition of 1862, where he received honourable mention. He also obtained medals at the Anglo-French Working Class Exhibition, held at the Crystal Palace in 1865, at the Dublin International Exhibition of 1865, at the Exposition Universelle (1867), at Vienna in 1873, and at Victoria and Albert Museum in 1874. Zaehnsdorf bindings are sought for and readily identified by the amateur of fine bindings.” - Wikipedia

About the Provenance -

"At the age of fourteen John Camden Hotten was apprenticed to the London bookseller John Petheram, where he acquired a taste for rare and unusual books. He spent the period from 1848 to about 1853 in America but by mid-1855 had opened a small bookshop in London at 151a Piccadilly and went on to found the publishing business under his own name which after his death became Chatto & Windus. Hotten was a member of the Ethnological Society of London, which he joined in 1867. His literary knowledge and intelligence brought him a large circle of acquaintances." - Wikipedia

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 24 x 16 x 4.5 cm. Leather binding (green levant), richly adorned with gilt, reminiscent of the Cambridge style (inner and outer frame with corner sprays on the inner frame). Spine has five raised bands; five of the compartments are ruled in gilt with a central flower surrounded by flourishes and dentelle decoration, one compartment with title and author in gilt, year at bottom of spine. Edges of the board are rolled with a chain/dot motif. Turn-ins are gilt in 18th-century french style. Stamped (i.e., "signed") "Bound by Zaehnsdorf" with an inner frame ruling the marbled endpaper. All edges are gilt (AEG). 62 embellishments. Frontis and title page plates. Fold-out map at rear. Pages - (1), xvi, 329, map, (1)

Condition -

See pictures. Very handsome and solid binding with only a little wear, one very light scrape on front board. Slightest sunning to spine. Several darker spots on rear board, and one scrape (small). Top endband has crack in middle. Back of flyleaf has two (candle wax?) spots that have foxed through the next two pages, including the 1/2 title page. Gall ink name at top of 1/2 title page too. No tissue guards throughout, frontis has caused some foxing on title page. There is a little toning to pages and light foxing marks, but still a nice work (see pictures)..