1818 Scarce Books in a Box - New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

Author: [Not attributed – standard Church of England text].
Title: The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ [and] The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments.
Publisher: London, George Eyre & Andrew Strahan, Printers to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, 1818.
Language: Text in English.
Size: Each volume approximately 3.5 X 2 inches (miniature).
Pages: Unpaginated.
Binding: Attractive and very good original matching cerise silk moiré bindings from the Georgian era. Boards beautifully decorated in gilt with alternating palmette and honeysuckle scroll motifs and cornerpieces of gilt tulip designs. Spines richly gilt with pointillé fillets, quatrefoil ornaments, and gilt titles. Minor wear and faint soiling to silk consistent with age, but overall remarkably well-preserved. All edges gilt.
Housed in: The original dark blue straight-grained morocco slipcase, crafted in the shape of a large book with blind-tooled borders and a gilt-lettered spine: Testament and Prayer. The case is lined in royal blue paper and retains the original binder’s printed ticket:

“W. Houghton, Twelve Years with & Successor to Mr. Wrangham, Stationer &c., 161 New Bond Street.”
Light surface rubbing to the case but structurally sound and very well-preserved.

Content: Very good condition (crisp, clean text printed in Corrall’s famous diamond type, with only mild toning and occasional foxing). The New Testament ends with the imprint: “Corrall, Printer, Charing Cross”, referencing the same tiny but legible type later used in Pickering’s miniature editions.

Estimate: (USD 500– USD 650).

The book: A stunning 1818 Georgian devotional miniature set in its original luxury presentation format. Both the New Testament and Book of Common Prayer were printed for the King’s printers and typeset in Corrall’s famed minuscule font. Georgian silk bindings are rare survivors, and this set is exceptional for retaining its full red moiré silk covers, bright gilt decoration, and most notably its original slipcase disguised as a book, complete with early 19th-century stationer’s label.

The context: This set reflects the refinement of late Georgian devotional publishing. The presence of the W. Houghton ticket suggests a retail date shortly after 1818, likely within the 1820s. Houghton, who succeeded Anthony Wrangham, operated from 161 New Bond Street—a prestigious address in Regency London. These kinds of ornate, miniature devotional sets were prized by women and members of the upper classes for private worship and travel.

A rare and desirable survival in very good condition—complete, and of notable bibliographic interest.