The Book of Common Prayer

Cambridge: Printed by C.J.Clay and Son at the University Press for the SPCK.. n.d. [c1890].

Bound with Hymns Ancient and Modern. London: William Clowes. 178x140mm. The Prayer Book is unpaginated but collates pi1; A16-O16. Hymnal, pp. xv [ibl], 681, [1]. Bound by "Watson, Binder, Marylebone" (signed at foot of front pastedown) in beige cloth decorated with inlaid silver quatrefoil and flower motifs. Calf turn-ins tooled in gilt. Silk endpapers. Gauffred edges. Two silver pillar and heart-shaped silver clasps, one engraved with the letters "I.J" and the other with the date "1760". Both have the silver mark "IL". Most of the silver decorative inlay has worn off as has some of the calf on the turn-ins but otherwise the binding is in very good condition.
Edward Watson worked at 239 Marylebone Road in the late nineteenth century. His work was exhibited at the first Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1888 where he showed "five specimens of book-binding in hand-coloured calf: antique style and finish". There is no date on this lovely Prayer Book and Hymnal binding but it has the air of the Arts and Crafts Movement with its decorative flair and repurposed Georgian silver clasps.