Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages by Shaw, Henry, 1800-1873. Wright, Thomas, 1810-1877

London: William Pickering, 1843 (Chiswick: C. Whittingham). Hard Cover. Volume One only (of two): 38 color plates; 29 cm. Added title-page: Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages from the Seventh to the Seventeenth Centuries. With descriptions by Thomas Wright. The plates are hand-colored copper and polychrome wood engravings. Shaw's most ambitious work, described by Ruari McLean as having "a considerable claim to be called the most handsome book created in the whole of the nineteenth century." (Victorian Book Design, p. 48). Ray 102. This copy has the bookplate of actor Edwin Booth (1833-1893] with his signed inscription to Jervis McEntee (1828-1891), a landscape painter of the Hudson Valley School and Booth's friend of many years. It was Booth's gift in anticipation of a commission for McEntee to paint portraits of the actor in his famous roles. This copy, loaned to Historic Kingston, featured in a McEntee exhibition and was noticed in a New York Times review. Alice Beckwith, Victorian Bibliomania, n. 38. Stock#OB557 oversize. Some foxing; rebound in half leather; good+.