1850 Leaflets Memory Gift Book 1st Printing Sonnet to Mother Poe Altemus Binding

Leaflets of Memory: An Illuminated Annual for 1850. Edited by Reynell Coates. Philadelphia: Published by E. H. Butler & Co., 1850. LACKING EIGHT PLATES! Four illuminated plates remain, 312 p. Henry Altemus original decorated leather binding measures 9.5 x 6.25", 8vo. Features a 1st Printing of Edgar Allan Poe's Sonnet to My Mother (page 48). In fair condition. Beautifully embossed boards normally scuffed at edges and worn/bumped at corners. Head and tail of spine scuffed; hinges lightly creased. All edges of text-block gilt. Pencil marginalia on front paste-down; gift inscription, in ink, on front end-page. Ownership signature, in ink, on front fly-leaf. Front gutter cracked at presentation plate with exposed binding. Toning and age-staining through text-blocks, especially where plates were bound (but now lacking). Rear gutters plate with exposed binding. Binding intact. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. Reynell Coates (1802 - 1886) was an American physician, scientist, teacher, poet and politician. He was the editor of Graham's Magazine and contributed to the other literary journals of the time, both in prose and in verse. From 1845, he edited Leaflets of Memory: An Illuminated Annual, an annual illustrated collection of short stories and verse, of which eleven volumes are known. Of his poems The Gambler's Wife (1846), Christian Charity and The Drunkard's Child were best known. As noted in the Preface (Advertisement) - binding is by Mr. Altemus: The Henry Altemus Company was a publishing company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for almost a century, from 1842 to 1936. The firm started as a bookbindery. In 1863, Altemus was awarded a patent for a particular type of binding for photographic albums. These albums were huge sellers for Altemus and were the mainstay of their publishing business until the mid-1880s. The albums were supplanted by Bibles in the 1880s. Starting in 1889, books were published with the Henry Altemus imprint. COLI1850BIKB - 01/26 - HK3131.…