Saturday 21 July 2018

Book ticket for Wareing Webb, of Liverpool

On a recent visit to the Holiday Property Bond premises of Sibton Park, Kent, I was doing my usual look at books on the shelves of the Library and in the Billiard Room in the main Old Hall. There are at least two sets of Scott's Waverley Novels. It is the set in the billiard room which looks largely complete. Published by Robert Cadell in Edinburgh and Whittaker & Co., in London, probably in the 1830s. This set in the billiard room looks to have its original cloth covers, with yellow end papers and paste downs. This is quite an early example of this sort of edition binding; it is possible that the sheets were not bound up until the early 1840s. The cloth is maroon bead grain. All the spines have gilt lettering -  at the head is  the name of the series and its volume number; and near the base, the individual title for each novel. 

A run of the Waverley Novels

The blocking of the covers in in blind, featuring the same floral motif on both covers of each volume.

Floral motif blocking in blind/ relief on each cover

Volume XLVIII in the series is The surgeon's daughter, with a title page date of 1839.

Vol. XLVIII. The surgeon's daughter. Title page.



It is volume XLVIII which has the ticket of Wareing Webb, Bookseller & Binder, Liverpool pasted on its upper paste down. The thee typefaces used for the printing of the ticket (on blue dyed paper) are typical of their time. 
Every ticket found is a small addition to our knowledge of the binding trade in the Victorian period. Many more examples of binder's tickets can be found  at:

 https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/bookbindings/ 

Ticket of Wareing Webb




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