Antiquarian

THE ABBEY CHURCH OF SAINT ALBAN :
HERTFORDSHIRE
iILLUSTRATED BY
+JAMES NEALE : FSA : ARCHITECT+
ASSOCIATE OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
=LONDON=
[1877]

Private printing, not published and sold to subscribers only.

Quarter bound red cloth gilt title to front board. 38.5 x 57cm. Chromolithograph title page | Dedication | Preface | 3pp. list of subscribers | 2pp. Contents and list of plates | 36pp. History and description | 60 full page plates. 

The copy of subscriber F. C. Brooke Esq., B.A. J.P., Woodbridge. with with three handwritten letters loosely inserted from the author, James Neale, to F. C. Brooke, dated March 15th, March 20th and March 28th 1876. The first letter, enclosing the prospectus and a handwritten copy of a letter from architect Sir George Gilbert Scott written to James Neale in praise of his drawings for the work, is an invitation to  F. C. Brooke to add his name to a revised list of subscribers. The second letter is a response to F.C. Brookes reply giving detail of the the work and Neale's intention to limit the number of copies to 300 and to subscribers only. His third letter thanks Mr Brooke for his subscription. The prospectus and first list of subscribers together with the handwritten copy of George Gilbert Scott's letter are also loosely inserted.

In popular use in the mid 19th century, particularly for oversized books, was the Caoutchouc rubber based adhesive method of binding the text block from single leaves. Unfortunately Caoutchouc deteriorates relatively quickly and almost all bindings using this method have failed, resulting in the single sheets in the text block becoming loose, as is the case with this book.
Aside from this binding issue, the pages are clean and the book is complete. The spine is a little rubbed with short splits ath the spine ends.

A rare book and an important record of the Abbey Church of St. Alban with the loosely inserted handwritten letters from the author, printed prospectus and handwritten copy of Sir George Gilbert Scott's letter to James Neale dated July 30th 1875.