THE CHRISTMAS BOOK PAR EXCELLENCE

[VIZETELLY, Henry, editor]. FOSTER, Myles Birket, illustrator. Christmas with the Poets: A Collection of Songs, Carols, and Descriptive Verses, Relating to the Festival of Christmas, from the Anglo-Norman Period to the Present Time. London: Bell & Daldy, 1862 (i.e., 1861). Octavo, original red roan with inlaid gilt-stamped vellum panels and embossed holly leaf borders, rebacked with original elaborately gilt-decorated spine laid down, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $1850.

Christmas-themed Victorian gift book with an ornate illuminated title page, pages with gilt borders and decorations, featuring 53 engraved and tinted vignettes by beloved illustrator Birket Foster, festively bound.

The Victorian fascination with Christmas traditions of bygone days reached a pinnacle in this holiday gift book collecting songs, poems and folklore, including both classics and more obscure items. The text was edited by Vizetelly, who also engraved the 53 tinted illustrations from drawings by Myles Birket Foster. Trustees of the British Museum selected the first edition for display at the Great Exhibition of 1851 as an outstanding example of contemporary illustration and printing, and the Art-Journal described the 1857 edition as "par excellence, THE book for Christmas." Stated fourth edition, first published in 1851. Neatly inked gift inscription dated 1861.

Pages clean and crisp, expert restoration to extremities of binding. A beautiful production inside and out.