c1896 The Descriptive Album of London: A Pictorial Guide

A very scarce Coronation Edition of George H. Birch"s richly illustrated survey of London with 108 photographic plates. In the publisher's original red cloth binding.This copy is undated. Dated here using Jisc, from copies held at various institutions including the British Library and University of Cambridge Libraries.This volume is the very scarce coronation edition of this work.In this Album, George H. Birch curates a richly illustrated survey of the city"s monuments, streets, and public buildings. Illustrated with 108 monochrome photographic plates of view of London, accompanied by explanatory notes, and an introduction. Collated, complete.George H. Birch (1842-1904) was a British architect and antiquary who served as curator of Sir John Soane"s Museum in London from 1894 until his death. He published widely on architecture and topography. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Externally, generally smart. Slight rubbing and bumping to extremities resulting in slight loss to cloth, more so to spine. Slight loss, chipping and closed tears to cloth at front joint and spine. Creases from folding to front free endpaper. Endpapers slightly age toned. The odd handling marks to boards and one or two damp spots. Front and rear hinges cracked, with binding materials partially exposed at endpapers. Scattered spotting to endpapers. Internally, generally firmly bound. Hinges strained in places, but holding. Pages bright and clean with the odd handling mark with one or two spots to fore edge. Good.…