Catalogue of the engraved gems and rings in the collection…

8vo (220 × 140 mm.), pp. xv, [i], 120. Frontispiece (mounted photograph of a Roman gem, a bust of Livia). Original publisher’s cloth, gilt. Spine dampstained, also affecting portion of both covers. Internally, very good.

First edition. Joseph Mayer, the Liverpool goldsmith, became a major civic figure in Victorian Britain, mainly for his numerous philanthropic loans and gifts to museums from his enormous personal collections of early decorative arts. His gifts remain a major component of the Liverpool museum collections.