THE SPEAKER: or, Miscellaneous Pieces, from the Best English Writers . . . with a View to Facilitate the Improvement of Youth in Reading and Speaking. To which are Prefaced, Two Essays: I. On Elocution. II. On Reading Works of Taste. [Binding with Miniatures Framed under Glass].

London: C. J. G. and F. Rivington; J. Nunn [et al.], 1829. Duodecimo. xliii, 346 pages plus engraved frontispiece and [2] pages terminal ads. Contemporary full mottled leather with a miniature painting mounted on each cover. The miniatures are framed in brass under glass, with the frames measuring 4.5 centimeters in diameter. The painting on the front cover depicts three women robed in classical style; one holds a cross and a book, another bears a sword, and the third carries three infants. The miniature on the rear cover consists of a calligraphic presentation inscription set around an intricately painted rose. The inscription incorporates the rose as a rebus and is meant to be read as follows: "R. Hammersley to Miss Eliza Freeman the [Rose] of Turnham Green, Dec. 25, 1831." Eliza Freeman (d. 1899) was the daughter of James Freeman of Turnham Green. She married Sir Francis Wyatt Truscott (1824-1895) in 1847. Truscott, a prominent merchant and civic leader, served as Lord Mayor of London (1879-1880). He was knighted in 1872, conveying to Eliza the title of Lady Truscott. We could learn little of R. Hammersley, except that "Gentlemen's Magazine" noted the passing, on Jan. 23, 1832, of R. Hammersley, Esq., of Turnham-green-terrace, age 74 (vol. 102, p. 92). The spine of the book is a little rubbed. Both joints are partly split, but the boards are holding well. On the verso of the frontispiece (with no bleed to the recto) is a brief, unsigned calligraphic inscription: "Forget Me Not." Moderate stain from prior enclosure to prelims (including title page and margin of frontispiece); title page also shows offsetting from the frontispiece; tissue guard is lacking. Lacking the rear free endpaper. The main body of the text is mostly free from blemish. Still, a rather attractive volume and about very good overall. Later edition, advertised on the title as the "Genuine Edition." William Enfield (1741-1797) was an English Unitarian minister. "His greatest publishing success was 'The Speaker' (1774), an anthology of extracts from classical and English literature intended for practice in the art of elocution, which a prefatory essay explained . . . 'The Speaker' went through many editions in Britain and America and remained in print well after the middle of the nineteenth century." --R.K. Webb in ONB. The use of miniatures to adorn bindings appears to have been uncommon before the 20th century (and the rise of the so-called Cosway bindings), and surviving examples are rare. We are aware of a few 18th-century French embroidered bindings with miniatures, and the British Library database of bookbindings finds a binding with a mounted cameo. However, we have been unable to identify any bindings similar to this auction records, current retail offerings, or the reference works available to us.