1849 Scarce 1stED - bound by Riviere - THE MAGIC OF KINDNESS illustrated by Cruikshank.
Author: MAYHEW, The Brothers. (George Cruikshank, illustrator).
Title: THE MAGIC OF KINDNESS; or the Wondrous Story of the Good Huan. Illustrated by George Cruikshank and Kenny Meadows.
Publisher: London: Darton and Co., no date (circa 1849). First Edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 6 .5" X 4 ".
Pages: viii-296 pages.
Binding: Attractive, beautiful, and very good full calf leather binding by Riviere & Son (hinges fine, overall slightly scuffed and worn, small chip to the lower part of the spine - hardly noticeable - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare foxing or light toning to some pages- as shown, original red cloth cover and spine bound at the end of the volume - as shown). All edges gilt.
Illustrations: Beautifully illustrated by George Cruikshank and Kenny Meadows.
The book: Very attractive and rare first edition of The Magic of Kindness containing tales illustrating the power of kindness, love, and benevolence.
The binder: Robert Riviere (30 June 1808 in London – 12 April 1882 in London) was an English bookbinder of Huguenot descent. The excellent workmanship and good taste displayed in his bindings gradually won for them the appreciation of connoisseurs, and he was largely employed by the Duke of Devonshire, Samuel Christie-Miller, Captain Francis Capper Brooke and other great collectors. He also bound for the queen and the royal family. In the Great Exhibition of 1851 he exhibited several examples of his skill, and he was awarded a medal. He was chosen by the council to bind one thousand copies of the large ‘Illustrated Catalogue,’ intended for presentation to ‘all the crowned heads in Europe’ and other distinguished persons. It is said that two thousand skins of the best red Morocco, as well as fifteen hundred yards of silk for the linings of the covers, were used by Riviere for this undertaking. He also restored and bound the famous Domesday Book, now preserved in the Record Office.
The illustrator: George Cruikshank (27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.