The object of the day: 19th century needlework instruction book

One of two extremely rare needlework instruction books with samples from the female model school

 

Kildare Place, Dublin, Ireland

1833-37.

 

Sold: $3,304.00($2,800.00)

 

Comprising "A Concise Account of the Mode of Instructing in Needle-Work... " printed by Thomas I. White, Dublin, 1833, and "Specimens of Needle-Work Executed in the Female Model School..." printed by George Folds, the cover inscribed "Sarah Darby 1837" and including cloth samples of sewing, darning, embroidery, knitting, and miniature clothing. Each in marbleized covers, largest 9 ¼ x 6 inches. (One illustrated)
Provenance: Witney Antiques, Oxon, England.

Vintage annuals

The idea of an annual was a canny one if you were a publisher at the turn of the 19th century. Made up from a run of weekly or monthly magazines bound in a plain hard covers, and with a few added extras in the form of the pictorial title pages and advertisements, annuals offered printer-publishers a second chance to engage with their audience. The result was standalone book that seemed fresh and perfectly timed for Christmas.

One of the earliest examples was The Youth’s Magazine; or, Evangelical Miscellany (first published by W Kent in 1804), a predictably pious tome, although ‘youths’ were treated to some tales of travel and adventure. Peter Parley’s Annual followed on, and thrilled readers for over half a century (1840 – 92), setting new quality standards with its steel engravings by noted artists and, from 1846, its printed colour illustrations.

The Heart Book, Denmark 1550’s.

The Heart Book is regarded as the oldest Danish ballad manuscript. It is a collection of 83 love ballads compiled in the beginning of the 1550’s in the circle of the Court of King Christian III. Shown above is the beginning of ballad no. 43, Store længsel, du går mig nær (Great Yearning, thou touches me).

A later reader – the otherwise unknown Christen Masse – has added some notes, i.a. this pious hope: “gvd ende oc vinde alle mit er lende til en god oc gledelig ende amen” (may god end and turn my misery into a good and happy ending amen).
We do not know who compiled the ballads and instigated the writing of the Heart Book. All ballads except one – no. 66 – have probably been written by the same hand.
19.5 x 15 cm.

Old manuscripts: "A" leaf from a folio Breviary

detail

Isaiah, historiated initial 'A' on a leaf from a folio Breviary,
 in Latin, Illuminated Manuscript On Vellum
[Germany, probably Saxony, c.1435]

454 x 320mm, the initial 125 x 113mm. In the infill the prophet supports a book on the horizontal of the A, while a younger man beneath it holds a scroll, both those figures and the monochrome figures of Gabriel and the Annunciate Virgin in the staves point to Isaiah's prophecy of the Incarnation that continues from book to scroll; the foliate borders contain birds, a collared monkey, a pope, a cardinal and a wild man who holds a heraldic shield, azur, an imperial eagle or (marginal soiling, wear affecting figures in lower margin, some spotting, slight cropping, edges strengthened with paper strips on verso).

How to know if it is antique?

An antique, according to the dictionary, is "a piece of furniture, tableware or the like, made at a much earlier period than the present." It is not, however, necessarily out-of-date or oldfashioned. A chair that was built soundly from good hardwood around 1820 and is comfortable to sit on is never out-of-date. A 7 1/2-inch-high octagonal teapot of blue Staffordshire is monstrous in comparison to contemporary streamlined pots, but it makes as good tea as it did more than a century ago.

How many years old must a chair, a plate, a trivet, a fan, or a clock be to warrant its being called an antique without anyone's arguing the point? Some people insist on a precise number of years, such as 80 or 100. The 80-year span is justified on the basis of two generations, each one covering 40 years. Yet a watch that is only 75 years old is likely to look old-fashioned, and so perhaps it also is an antique. Certainly anything that is 100 years old deserves the label.

The object of the day: A book Portraits of the Famous and Infamous

Book : Portraits of the Famous and Infamous (England 20th century)

Description / Expertise
Portraits of the Famous and Infamous ; Australia , New Zealand and the Pacific , 1492 - 1970
By Rex Nan Kivell and Sydney A Spence
Privately published by Kivell & Spence , 20 Cork St , London 1974
Folio hardback with original printed wrapper
Fine original condition
Similar Books always sought after - (collections/libraries or single copies)
Status
FOR SALE