binding transformed include secret compartment (1 Ergebnisse)

in an eighteenth century green morocco binding, single fillet and dotted roll along the edges with an elaborate decorative border with swags, sunbursts and corner floral urns, in the centre a red morocco inlay in a spheroid shape, gilt border of chevrons, gilt flowers, sunbursts and geometrical patterns decorating the lettering which reads: ?Ignace Mehl fils d?Haguenau?, the rear board plain green but with a central date ?1807? surrounded by chevrons, in gilt, the spine in red morocco, ruled in compartments with geometrical patterns in gilt, marbled endleaves, gilt edges, preserved in a slipcase covered in marbled paper to match the marbled endpapers. Landscape (122 x 194 mm), the text block pasted together, an internal rectangle (88 x 155 mm) cut away, the revealed compartment, bottom and side, as well as the recto of the upper leaf then covered in marbled paper, with an extra flap of the same marbled paper, pasted onto a thicker paper, used as a cover to the contents of the compartment, the flap secured at the foot of the left compartment wall, with a green silk ribbon attached at the gutter and threaded through to the centre of the flap so that it lifts the flap easily, the compartment containing eight leaves of blank paper, cut to size, each with gilt edges, all blank, A charming book toy where an early user has converted a book into a book box housing a secret compartment for notes and correspondence. The compartment houses eight blank sheets which have been cut to size and then had their edges gilded. Any sent letters are by definition no longer present, but nor alas are any billet doux received. The binding itself itself is dated 1807 and the supralibris gives the ownership of the book as ?Ignace Mehl fils d?Haguenau?.