Independence Day: A Sketchbook.

GUEDALLA, Philip [George Washington; Cosway Binding].

Item Number: 102834

London: John Murray, 1926.

Cosway binding number 851, signed by artist Miss Currie and Cosway inventor J.H. Stonehouse on printed leaf bound in before half-title. Bound in full crushed navy blue morocco, stamped in gilt, top edge gilt, red moire silk endleaves, with hand-painted portrait miniature on ivory of George Washington set in center of both panels by Riviere & Son. In near fine condition.

Cosway bindings (named for renowned 19th-century English miniaturist Richard Cosway) were first commissioned in the early 1900s by London booksellers Sotheran from the famous Rivière bindery, who employed Miss C.B. Currie to faithfully imitate Cosway's detailed watercolor style of portraiture. These delicate miniature paintings, often on ivory, were set into the covers or doublures of richly-tooled bindings and protected by a thin pane of glass. The present volume includes a printed leaf inserted at the front that states, "This is No. 851 of the Cosway Bindings invented by J.H. Stonehouse, with Miniatures on Ivory by Miss Currie." Both Stonehouse and Currie have signed this page.