Three Victorian Decorative Cloth Volumes including Bunyan and Evans Wilson, circa 1885-1889.

A trio of late 19th-century hardcover books featuring decorative publisher’s cloth bindings. The first volume is titled The Casquet of Literature, bound in dark red cloth with ornate gilt and black stamped architectural and floral motifs on the front board. The front flyleaf contains a handwritten ink inscription reading, J. Clapham. Nov 3rd 1885. from his friend B.C.S. The second volume is The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, featuring a bright blue cloth cover with black stamped floral designs and butterflies. An interior flyleaf bears a handwritten dedication: To my dear Mother from her loving daughter March 1st 1889 ‘The Lord Bless & keep thee’. The third volume is Infelice by Augusta J. Evans Wilson, published in London by W. Nicholson and Sons, 26, Paternoster Square, E.C., and Albion Works, Wakefield. The title page identifies the author as the writer of St. Elmo, Beulah, and Macaria. This book is bound in dark green cloth with blind-stamped decorative borders and a gilt-stamped title.