Early Illustrated Books: A History of the Decoration and Illustration of Books in the 15th and 16th Centuries

Second edition (the first edition having been published in 1893).  254pp, with illustrated frontispiece and some further full page illustrations interleafed in text (a couple of which are printed in red and black).  Rebound, with replacement endpapers, in purple cloth-covered boards with gilt lettering on the spine.  12mo.  Cloth bright and clean, just a tad rounded at spine ends.  An ex library copy with the library bookplate on the front free endpaper and small stamp on the first and last text leaves (no other library markings).  Text block edges a little toned, and pages off-bright else neat, clean and tight.

 A detailed and scholarly examination of the transition from hand-illuminated manuscripts to printed illustrations, woodcuts and engraving in the manufacture of European books in the 15th and 16th centuries, exploring the rivalry between traditional scribes and early printers and the development of early print cultures and conventions, including the introduction of such staples of modern book production as the title page and pagination. Pollard (1859-1944 was the leading bibliographer and book historian of his time and a key figure in the development of modern textual analysis.  Know for his rigorous studies of early printing, he was Keeper of Printed Books at the British Museum and Professor of English Bibliography at the University of London.