The Royal Drawing Room Table Book; Comprising Original Tales and Poetry

London; New York: The London Printing and Publishing Company, c1870. Leather. Good Only. 11" by 8.5". Various. A very scarce book of entertaining tales and poems by John Sherer, accompanied by sixty three plates John Sherer realises his conception of the perfect table in this very scarce, heavily illustrated work. Two volumes bound into one, with thirty two engravings to volume I, collated but incomplete, lacking the vignette called for at page 173. With thirty two engravings to volume II, collated and complete. For Sherer, the table book prompts ideas 'of taste, elegance, and beauty in art, united to the prose and poetry of imagination'. With the accompaniment of numerous engravings, Sherer offers accessible tales and poems in various styles to pleasantly pass the time 'with a smoothness similar to that which is seen in a greatly flowing stream gliding over a channel of sand'. Blind stamp to the rear endpaper from Neatham Mill Library. Undated. Dated using Jisc from estimates of the British Library. In quarter calf binding over brown cloth. Lightly rubbed to the front board, more so to the rear. Rubbed to the joints with some scuffing of the leather at the extremities. Rubbed to the spine, particularly at the head and the tail. Front hinge starting, but firm. Internally, generally firmly bound. Gutter visible at pages 82 to 83, pages 138 to 139, 152 to 152 in volume I, and pages 44 to 45, and 98 to 99 in volume II. The odd page is age-toned, but pages are generally bright and clean with the occasional spot. Good Only