12mo. Engraved portrait frontispiece, piscatorial head- and tail-pieces. (Offsetting of portrait to title, some spotting to frontispiece.) Contemporary maroon morocco [by THOMAS GOSDEN], panel-stamped in blind with portraits of Walton and Cotton, borders of rods, fish, rushes, masks and vignettes, spine in 5 compartments with 4 raised bands gilt, edges gilt concealing a DOUBLE FORE-EDGE PAINTING of fishing scenes (very slight wear to extremities); modern cloth slipcase. Provenance: Thomas Gaisford (1779-1855) Dean of Christ Church (bookplate); John Roland Abbey (1894-1969) English bibliophile (bookplate). 

 

THE J. R. ABBEY COPY, IN A FINE BLIND-PANEL BINDING BY THOMAS GOSDEN. Gosden, whose bindings are usually found on angling and sporting books, was the first bookbinder in England to use blind-stamped portrait panels. (See G. D. Hobson,  English Bindings in the Library of J. R. Abbey, 1940, p.150).