The Bab Ballads by W.S. Gilbert, 1932, Signed Inlaid Riviere Binding

Binding Details:  Stunning pictorial inlaid leather binding signed by Riviere & Son, Bath consisting of multicolored morocco leather inlays depicting characters from the Savoy Operas. There are also heavy gilt decorations and tooling to the front and rear covers, a ribbed gilt decorated spine, covers ruled and paneled in gilt, marbled endpapers, gilted page ends, and gilt inner dentelles. The book is housed in a functional open ended slipcase. The Riviere & Son stamp in gilt appears on the bottom of the inside cover.

Book Details:  The Bab Ballads is a classic collection of comic verse by one of the great Victorian satirists and comic writers. The Bab Ballads originally appeared in the periodical “Fun” from 1865 to 1869 and first appeared in book form in 1868 with 44 of the Ballads take from “FUN”. In 1890, Gilbert produced Songs of a Savoyard, a volume of sixty-nine detached lyrics from the Savoy Operas, each with a new title, and some of them slightly reworded to account for the changed context. Commenting on the merging of The Bab Ballads and Songs of a Savoyard, Gilbert wrote in 1897, "I collected the most popular of the songs and ballads which I had written for the series of light operas with which my name is associated, and published them under the title of "Songs of a Savoyard." It recently occurred to me that these songs had so much in common with "The Bab Ballads" that it might be advisable to weld the two books into one."

This is the 1932 edition published by Macmillan & Co., Limited, London.

The book measures approximately 7.25” x 5”, 564 pages which includes a preface by W.S. Gilbert as well as an Index to First Lines and Alphabetical Index to Titles.

Condition Report:  The binding is in FINE- condition with the only flaws being some slight darkening to the spine and a spot on the front endpapers and pastedown. Internally the book is clean with no foxing. Overall, this is a beautiful signed inlaid leather binding that is in wonderful condition.

Photographs of the binding and front endpapers appear in the photo section of the listing.