Victoria Regia, The. All Faithfulls in 2 large slipcases.
Dedicated To Queen Victoria
The Book That Gave Emily Faithfull The Right To Call Herself
“Printer And Publisher…To Her Majesty”
[Faithfull, Emily]. Procter, Adelaide A., ed. The Victoria Regia: A Volume of Original Contributions in Poetry and Prose. London: Printed and Published by Emily Faithfull and Co./Victoria Press (for the Employment of Women)…, 1861.
Large, thick 8vo.; full page woodcut illustration of the Victoria Regia water-lily facing the dedication page; other illustrations, ornamental initials and tail-pieces “designed by a lady intimately connected with our work, and engraved by women” throughout; original purple morocco ornately blind-stamped, with title and a crown gilt-stamped on upper and lower panels; spine richly gilt-stamped; a.e.g.; binder’s front fly-leaf lacking; else a lovely copy of a lovely and scarce work.
First edition of Faithfull’s first published book, a landmark of women’s printing and Victorian publishing; hands down considered the most physically beautiful of her publications. With The Victoria Regia, a collection of previously unpublished prose and poetry by such luminaries as Tennyson, Thackeray, the Trollopes and others, Faithfull earned the right to call herself “Printer and Publisher in ordinary to Her Majesty.” In her preface she recounts the early history of the Victoria Press. The Victoria Regia has the added distinction of having served as fodder for several of T.J. Wise’s forgeries. The book was issued in several bindings: a cloth binding (the cheapest) and two states of morocco binding, this one and another of the same design but with more elaborate gilding.
(#5196)
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