1785 BIBLE BEAUTIFULLY BOUND BY EDWARDS OF HALIFAX IN THEIR SIGNATURE ETRUSCAN STYLE, WITH THREE FORE-EDGE PAINTINGS, FROM THE DOHENY COLLECTION
(BIBLE). The Holy Bible; Containing the Books of the Old and New Testaments, and the Apocrypha. Bath: R. Cruttwell, 1785. Three volumes. Large quarto, contemporary full "Etruscan" calf, raised bands, elaborately gilt-decorated boards and spines, black morocco spine labels, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $25,000.
Beautifully bound three-volume 1785 Bible in an "Etruscan" style binding by Edwards of Halifax, with three beautiful fore-edge paintings. From the esteemed collection of Estelle Doheny.
The King James Bible, first published in 1611, is described as "the only literary masterpiece ever to be produced by a committee and was the work of nearly fifty translators… [who] lived at a period when the genius of the language was in full flower… [Macaulay praised it as] "a book, which if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power" (PMM 114). Although Edwards of Halifax rarely signed their bindings, this Bible was identified by Bentley as the same offered at £15 15s in Thomas Edwards' catalogue of 1815, described as "very superbly bound in Etruscan calf, gilt leaves, and 3 fine drawings thereon (item 265; see also Weber 2010, p. 129). The fore-edge painting of the Last Supper is reproduced by Weber in his Fore-Edge Paintings (p. 171) and described as an early example of the workshop. The technique of concealing a painting under the gilt fore edge of books was revived in England by William Edwards about 1780; they expanded the tradition, previously confined mainly to floral and heraldic motifs, to include religious imagery, royal portraiture, and, most importantly, landscapes and country houses, which became standard in the 19th century. In this Bible, the Last Supper fore-edge appears on Volume I. Volume II features a view of Chatsworth House (including the famed Emperor Fountain, not constructed until 1844, meaning this view must have been painted sometime after that date); Volume III features the ruins of an abbey, probably Tintern Abbey but also possibly Netley Abbey. Darlow & Moule 937. Herbert 1302. G.E. Bentley, The Edwardses of Halifax.
Bookplates, including the small morocco-gilt ones of Estelle Doheny. Starting in 1926, Doheny, wife of pioneering California oil developer Edward Doheny, "turned her casual attraction for books into a serious collecting passion… This collection grew to be one of the most important in the world." Doheny eventually expanded her collecting foci: "With innate good taste, Doheny formed one of the most impressive rare book and manuscript libraries in the United States" (Dickinson, 95). Her collection included an emphasis on books with particularly fine fore-edge paintings. Early owner inscriptions.
Interiors with occasional mild embrowning and foxing; expert restoration to bindings, the fore-edge paintings in exceptional condition. A stunning production.