The Poems of Oliver Goldsmith by Goldsmith, Oliver (ed. R.A. Willmott) - 1859

London and New York: George Routledge and Co., 1859. 1859. With 40 illustrations by Birket Foster intricately overprinted in color from woodblocks; plus monochrome section head and tail ornamentations by Noel Humphries. Printed by Edmund Evans. For this title, Evans innovated by using separate color blocks to achieve the graduated colors of Birket Foster's original art. Evans hand ground pigments to make inks which would match Foster's color. Up to nine or ten passes, on a small hand press, were required for each illustration. Oval binder label on rear board is of the renowned bookbinder, Bone & Son, Fleet Street, London. VERY GOOD+. A well-preserved copy of this historic printing. Bound in salmon-colored cloth over beveled boards; elaborate stamping in gilt, blind and black on both boards and spine. The title is displayed on the front cover, the illustration credits on the rear board. Endpapers are pale yellow. Text is set within gilt borders and all page edges are gilt. Pages are near fine. There are penciled notations on reverse side of front free endpaper (notes from research on the book by a previous owner), otherwise a clean, unmarked copy. Pages crisp with occasional light foxing, finger-markings. The ornamental half-title page is lightly foxed. The cover is very good, overall clean and lightly worn, Front cover and spine stamping are a bit dulled; spine ends rubbed with slight fraying; hinges rubbed with 1/2" tears at top and bottom of front hinge. Binding solid, interior hinges intact, no splits, no loose pages. ~6-1/2 x 9"; xvi + 160 pp.. First Edition. Decorative Cloth. Very Good+/No Jacket. Illus. by Foster, Birket. 8vo.