CUNDALL, Joseph. ~ Songs, Madrigals and Sonnets. A Gathering of some of the most pleasant Flowers of old English Poetry. Set in borders of coloured ornaments and vignettes. London: [Charles Whittingham, Chiswick for] Longman, Brown, Green, and Co. 1849.
16mo (138 × 100 mm), pp. [72] on thick paper/card. Letterpress text within coloured borders. Original red bevelled boards, gilt, recased and rebacked with new endpapers.
First edition of these selections from Shakespeare, Milton, Marlowe, Coleridge, Spenser, Herbert, and others. ‘The ornamental borders in this book have been printed by means of wood-blocks’. A collaborative enterprise between Cundall and the Chiswick Press it was printed in 2000 copies. ‘One-quarter share in the profits was to be paid to Joseph Cundall, but it is doubtful if there were any, since, in January 1851, forty bound copies and no less than one thousand six hundred and forty-two copies in sheets were sold to H.G. Bohn. It is a charming little volume and deserved a greater success: it is now a collector’s piece’ (McClean). McLean, Victorian Book Design and Colour Printing (2nd ed.), pp. 70-71.