Secret Memoirs of the Courts of Europe from the 16th to the 19th Century: Imperial Edition Published by George Barrie and Sons of Philadelphia. No date but circa 1905. Limited edition of 1,000 copies and retaining the small loosely laid wax paper guards. This set is numbered 417. Each volume is illustrated containing 4 to six photogravure plates printed on Japan paper, with each volume containing a hand-colored frontispiece. (apparently by stencil). This edition consists of two sets of 12 volumes. They are uniformly bound in blue moiré cloth with faded paper spine labels, some showing a little wear to edges, but mostly legible. Otherwise, all of the volumes show generally light shelf wear, some more so to the head and heel of the spine, and a couple of book covers scuffed but nothing serious, overall pleasingly clean bindings. All have deckled fore- and bottom-edges, most leaves are left uncut; still bright paper with little or no signs of aging, nice presswork and generous and proportional margins. All volumes are unmarked. All volumes have slightly dulled or dusty gilded top edges. All volumes are well bound with firmly attached covers. ,LOT REF #22-914

Very Good