Talismanic Flowers

1880. Half Morocco. Very Good. With 14 pages of chromolithographic die-cuts. Twelve of these pages are of flowers representing each of the months, the thirteenth is of an elaborate bouquet, and the final leaf is an assortment of nine die-cuts of flowers and children such as one might find in a more common Victorian album. Each of the monthly floral die-cut leaves is accompanied by poetry entitled "The Legend of" whatever the particular flower is as well as a four-line stanza dedicated to the same month. The thirteenth leaf comes with a long poem called "Nature' Cathedral". Separate from all this are nine leaves of newspaper clippings and poetry. This latter part was done in the 1930s and 40s and thus a good half-century after the principal part of the album. We can date the die-cut portion to 1880, if not a little earlier, by an inscription dated 1880 on the FFEP. This section is an outstanding example of its genre -- the compiler had an overarching conception which was executed neatly and elegantly. The morocco is heavily rubbed, with a section on the spine pierced, revealing the underlying signature gatherings. The interior is generally clean, with some yellowing from the glue used and ordinary age toning. 11 by 9".