ART TREASURES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM from the Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester [1857]. Fine chromolithographs by Day & Son. Elaborate stapwork binding by Leighton Son & Hodge

[Leighton, Son & Hodge, binder.] Waring, John Burley (1823-75). Art treasures of the United Kingdom. [4], 15, [13], 42, [2], 31, [1], 32, [2], [17]-80, [2], 27pp. Frontispiece and 100 chromolithographed plates; text illustrations. London: Day and Son, 1858. 385 x 276 mm. Elaborate strapwork binding of inlaid calf gilt ca. 1858 by Leighton Son & Hodge (binder's ticket on rear free endpaper), lightly rubbed; expertly restored; boxed. A few leaves starting, but very good. First Edition of this splendid folio volume, reproducing by chromolithography some of the finest treasures displayed in the 1857 Manchester exhibition titled Art Treasures of Great Britain, one of the largest art exhibitions ever held. Illustrated with 100 full page plates drawn on stone by and chromolithographed by F. Bedford, the work included essays by Owen Jones, Digby Wyatt, A. W. Franks, J.C. Robinson, G. Scharf and J. B. Waring. This large and heavy book was originally bound using the "gutta-percha" method, an early form of "perfect" binding in which a book's signatures were trimmed of their folds and the individual leaves secured to the binding's spine using a flexible rubber solution. The original gutta-percha adhesive in our copy deteriorated over time, as is usual with this type of binding, causing the sheets to separate from the spine; after expert restoration the book can now be opened and read just as it could when it was first issued. .…