Lays of the Holy Land from ancient and modern Poets, £2300 at Richard Winterton.
However, the principal attraction of the copy sold for £2300 (estimate £50-70) by Richard Winterton (22% buyer’s premium) in Lichfield on April 22-23 was its exhibition binding.
Sporting the elaborate tooled and dyed leather binding pictured here, the end papers were also painted with views of the Holy Land and images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on a gilt ground.
Inside it carries a gilt embossed label reading Bemrose, Derby, International Exhibition 1862, suggesting it was shown by the Derbyshire printing firm at the South Kensington world fair.
Lays of the Holy Land from ancient and modern Poets, £2300 at Richard Winterton.
It was quite possibly formerly owned by William Bemrose (1831-1908), whose extensive collection was sold at auction in his Derby home, Elmhurst, in March 1909.
Bemrose, who joining the family’s printing business in Derby, is best known today as one of the directors of Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Works and a collector of English ceramics who wrote books on Bow, Chelsea, Derby and Longton Hall porcelain.
