The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - 1971

London: Methuen and Co. Ltd, 1971. Leather Bound. Very Good. Ernest H. Shepard. This edition of The Wind in the Willows has been beautifully bound by Bayntun-Riviere Binding, in Bath, England. The Bayntun-Riviere Bindery is the last of the great Victorian trade binderies still in family ownership since the 1800s and continuing to bind entirely by hand. Books are bound using premium quality goat and calf skins, edges are gilded by hand using 23½ ct gold. Dark Green front and back cover of this book has double gilt ruled frames, with edges gilt ruled with geometric patterns. Spine has 5 raised spine bands, creating 6 spine compartments. The compartments and bands are gilt ruled. The second and third compartments are dark red with the gold embossed title and author. The other compartments contain gold embossing of book characters. Endpapers and pastedowns are made of hand marbled paper. "BAYNTUN. BINDER. BATH. ENGLAND." can be found in small type on the back of the free endpaper in the top left corner. The front and back cover have a few light indentations, with the back cover having a cluster of light indentations (possibly from a removal of a price sticker) in the upper left corner. All pages are clean and unmarked.