Little Journeys to the Homes of English Authors: Joseph Addison Elbert Hubbard FINE PRESS and BINDINGS,LITERATURE [Many Sub-Catagories]

One of 940 hand-illumined copies, signed by Hubbard on the limitation page numbered 657/940. Deluxe edition bound in limp brown suede with gilt leather labels Little Journeys / English Authors and Joseph Addison. This deluxe suede-bound edition is printed on Roycroft handmade paper, bearing the watermark of the East Aurora workshop. The typography is enriched with illuminated initials and decorative borders designed by Samuel Warner, hand-colored in gilt and soft hues of green and yellow by the Roycroft illuminators. The frontispiece features a photogravure portrait of Joseph Addison on Japan vellum, protected by its original tissue guard. The text closes with Hubbard s familiar colophon, executed in red and black, and the signed limitation statement in Hubbard s characteristic hand. Decorative title page and initials designed by Samuel Warner, hand-illumined in color and gilt by the Roycroft illuminators. The binding is full limp suede, light brown, with gilt-lettered leather title panels reading "Little Journeys / English Authors" and "Joseph Addison." The suede retains its suppleness, with minimal edge wear and mild rubbing to the yapped edges and spine ends. The sewing is tight, and the text block square. The interior is notably clean and bright, the coloring of the decorative initials vivid and original. An exceptionally well-preserved example of this signed and illumined issue far superior to the more common stiff wraps or unsigned variants. This beautifully crafted volume represents the high point of the Roycroft Press at the close of the nineteenth century issued during the period when Elbert Hubbard s Little Journeys series defined the ideals of the American Arts & Crafts movement. The English Authors series, printed and published between 1899 and 1900, celebrated figures such as Addison, Milton, Wordsworth, and Tennyson through Hubbard s essays and the press s distinctive union of art and craftsmanship. Subjects: Roycrofters (East Aurora); Elbert Hubbard; Joseph Addison; English Authors Series; Hand-Illumined Limited Editions; American Book Arts (1890s) Fine Press; Arts & Crafts Printing; Literary Biography.