Essays in Rhyme on Morals and Manners (Inscribed)

A superb example. Twelvemo (6 3/8 x 3 7/8 inches; 162 x 98 mm.). [2, blank], [iv], [1]-174, [2 blank] pp. Inscribed by the author on the first blank: "Wiggiston[?] from J. Taylor." Bound ca. 1820 by [Taylor and Hessey, Booksellers, London] in full maroon straight-grain morocco. Covers decoratively paneled in gilt and blind, spine with five raised bands, decoratively tooled in gilt and blind and lettered in gilt in compartments, decorative gilt board edges and turn-ins, lilac endpapers, all edges gilt. With a fine contemporary fore-edge painting by Taylor & Hessey depicting a view of Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire. English novelist and poet, Jane Taylor (1783-1824) perhaps better known for her collaborative authorship with her sister Ann, was the voice behind "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Taylor's verses have been here delightfully bound by Taylor and Hessey. The Firm was at its height between 1808-1823, working in both publishing and fine bindings. Their work is usually identifiable from their use of colored Morocco and gilt-stamp name on the foredge of their book boards. Taylor & Hessey also employed a foredge painter, whose identity remains lost, but whose work predominantly features buildings and landscapes. Of the twenty-four books in American libraries studied by Weber, only one exception can be found in the "copy of Mrs. Tighe's Psyche (London, 1811), on the fore-edge of which 'the Marlborough Gem' is painted" (Weber). Here the fore-edge painting depicts the old Premonstratensian Welbeck Abbey in the Dukeries in North Nottinghamshire. The ancient monastery, founded by Thomas de Cuckney in 1140, appears in the famous Domesday Book.…