1908 Longfellow Poetical Works Full Leather

A handsome 1908 Oxford University Press edition of The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, bound in full red leather and issued here as a school prize copy for Paddington and Maida Vale High School. The upper board is stamped in gilt for the school, and the interior retains the printed prize label awarded to Emma Spencer in December 1909, giving the book a clear and appealing period provenance. With its gilt-decorated spine, marbled endpapers, and marbled edges, this is a strong decorative copy with real Edwardian character.

Longfellow remained one of the most widely read American poets well into the early twentieth century, and collected editions like this were commonly chosen as educational prize books because of their literary standing and broad appeal. This copy works well for collectors of decorative bindings, school prize books, and classic poetry in attractive leather.

[d]Author | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [d]Title | The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [d]Publisher | Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press [d]Place | London [d]Date | 1908 [d]Edition | Complete Copyright Edition [d]Binding | Full red leather with raised bands [d]Decoration | Gilt school crest and lettering to upper board, ornate gilt spine [d]Features | Marbled endpapers, marbled edges, frontispiece portrait [d]Provenance | School prize copy awarded to Emma Spencer, Lower V, December 1909, Paddington and Maida Vale High School [d]Dimensions | 7.5 in H x 5.25 in W x 1.75 in D

[condition] The full red leather binding shows noticeable wear concentrated at the top of the spine, where the leather is fraying. The exterior surfaces show rubbing, scuffing, and scattered dark spotting throughout, consistent with more than a century of handling. The boards remain attractive, the gilt school crest is bright and clear, and the overall impression of the covers is still very pleasing. Marbled endpapers and marbled edges are present. The prize label on the front pastedown shows foxing. The frontispiece portrait is present and intact. The text block appears generally clean and sound with no markings noted. An honest antique copy, appealing at a distance and appropriately aged on close inspection.