COSWAY BINDINGS – a group of two Cosway bindings, 19th and 20th centuries.

DICKENS, Charles (1812-1870). Dombey and Son. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1848. First edition in book form, in a lovely Cosway binding.Laid in: autograph letter signed from Dickens to an unnamed correspondent, 30 Sept. 1845, answering a request for charity. Smith I:8. Octavo (210 x 132mm). Engraved frontispiece, title and plates after Hablot K. Browne ["Phiz"]. Green morocco gilt by Riviere & Son, silk endleaves, no. 930 of Cosway bindings invented by J.H. Stonehouse, each cover set with a portrait miniature (Edith and Florence Dombey) by Miss C.B. Currie (upper joint broken).

[WITH:] WATSON, Francis (1907-1988). The Life and Times of Catherine de' Medici.London: Hutchinson & Co., 1934. A gilt-tooled Cosway binding in red morocco, with a portrait miniature of Catherine de' Medici—altogether more splendid than the original publisher’s black cloth. Octavo (225 x 144mm). Frontispiece, 15 plates. Red morocco gilt by Riviere & Son, silk endleaves, no. 912 of Cosway bindings invented by J.H. Stonehouse, upper cover with a portrait miniature of Catherine de' Medici by Miss C.B. Currie. Modern quarter morocco case. Provenance:Paul Edward Chevalier (bookplate; his sale, Christie's New York, 9 November 1990, lot 72).