Cloth binding for Tennyson’s ‘The Princess’

1857

Sand cloth gilt

8¾ x 6 inches

A sophisticated neo-classical design in the manner of Italian Renaissance art, by an anonymous artist. The composition deploys decorative and architectural devices, creating an impression of aesthetic harmony which paradoxically stands in conflict with the contentious modernity of Tennyson’s poems and Maclise’s illustrations.

Scan and text by Simon Cooke [Click on image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

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