[SIGNED BLACKWELL BINDINGS] Victor Hugo's Works (16 volumes)

Hugo, Victor. [SIGNED BLACKWELL BINDINGS] Victor Hugo's Works (16 volumes). Boston: Dana Estes & Company, circa 1900. Illustrated Cabinet Edition. [12269]

An attractive set of bindings signed by Blackwell.

The deluxe, premium edition of Victor Hugo's works in 3/4 red morocco bindings, red marbled paper boards, top edges gilt, blue ribbon markers, each volume is 7 1/2 x 5 inches. Blackwell frequently imported the finest Levant Morocco leather from Europe. The deep-red dye on these skins was treated to maintain an incredibly rich, uniform hue that resists fading and holds a distinct, luxuriously tight pebble grain texture.

The spines have bright gilt titles, floral designs, and raised hubs. The gold-leaf tooling on the spine's compartments was executed entirely by hand using heated brass finishing stamps. The impressions are deeper, sharper, and reflect light with a more brilliant, mirrored finish than commercial machinery could produce.

The paper boards are marbled in red, gold, and brown to complement the rich red Moroccan leather; the end papers are also marbled in these colors. The marbled paper boards and interior endpapers on a Blackwell binding are often unique, utilizing premium hand-combed French or Turkish marbled papers rather than common stock patterns.

The page edges are all gilt at the top, deckled elsewhere.

This "illustrated" edition has many photogravure and other plates. Each volume has fine, functional joints with no cracks; most have a few small nicks at the extremities; one has a couple of digs in the leather backstrip (see last binding photo).

A list of titles with any other defects noted below. Good. Hardcover.

This set is a classic example of an Edwardian-era deluxe subscription set that was bound by the premier binder of his time. It was designed to provide wealthy households with a visually striking, uniform "library look" for their bookshelves.

The background of this set is interesting. In 1931 a gentleman in the Schenectady area of New York State went to an estate auction. He bought a number of antique furniture items, including a very large cherry bookcase. The bookcase, of course, was full of books, which he brought home. This set was nearly new when purchased and it sat in that bookcase from 1931 until very recently, when the estate was sold, and the grandson of the gentleman contacted us about purchasing the books, which we did.

The volumes are signed in small letters at the top of the front free end papers, "Bound for Schlesinger & Mayer, by Blackwell." This means that the set is a custom luxury trade commission. The elite Chicago department store Schlesinger and Mayer acted as the high-end retailer, and outsourced the actual physical craftsmanship to Henry Blackwell, one of the most celebrated master bookbinders of America's Gilded Age. Henry Blackwell was a legendary Welsh-born bookbinder based in New York City who established his famous fine-binding firm in 1892. He was so widely renowned for his meticulous leather craftsmanship that J.P. Morgan later chose him to help bind some of the most expensive rare books and manuscripts in the country.

This specific name stamping pinpoints a narrow historical window between 1899 and 1904 (aligning with the Dana Estes publication dates and the brief period before Schlesinger and Mayer changed ownership). The inclusion of the Blackwell signature transforms this multi-volume set from standard fine-bound literature into a highly collectible specimen of American fine bookbinding history

You will receive:

Les Miserables, Vol. I. x, 407 pp.
Les Miserables, Vol. II. viii, 371 pp.
Les Miserables, Vol. III. x, 346 pp.
Les Miserables, Vol. IV. x, 472 pp.
Les Miserables, Vol. V. x, 402 pp. Thin loss top edge of spine.
The Man Who Laughs, Vol. I. x, 356 pp.
The Man Who Laughs, Vol. II. x, 374 pp. 
History of a Crime, Vol. I. xi, 371 pp.
History of a Crime, Vol. II. vi, 444 pp.
Notre Dame de Paris, Vol. I. x, 329 pp.
Notre Dame de Paris, Vol. II. viii, 295 pp.
Ninety-Three, Vol. I. viii, 357. Ribbon marker present, detached.
Ninety-Three, Vol. II.; Bug-Jargal; Claude Gueux. vi, 356 pp.
The Toilers of the Sea. x, 268 pp.
Hans of Iceland; The Last Day of a Condemned. 324 pp.
Things Seen; Essays. vi, 377 pp. This volume has two small repaired digs to the spine and a little extra edge-wear than the other volumes. 

What a stunning set to add to your library!