Bidspirit auction | 1880. Hemans, Felicia. The Breaking

1880. Hemans, Felicia. The Breaking Waves Dashed High. (The Pilgrim Fathers.). Lee and Shepard. - This late nineteenth-century hardcover volume features the poem The Breaking Waves Dashed High (The Pilgrim Fathers) by Felicia Hemans. Published in 1880 by Lee and Shepard in Boston and Charles T. Dillingham in New York, the book is bound in the publisher's original mustard-yellow cloth. The front board is decorated with an elaborate pictorial design in gilt, black, and green, featuring a windmill landscape, stylized pine needles, and an inset scene of waves crashing against a rocky coastline. The title and author information are stamped in gilt on the spine. The interior is illustrated with numerous wood-engravings designed by Miss L. B. Humphrey and engraved by Andrew. The copyright page indicates the work was copyrighted in 1879 by Lee and Shepard and printed by John Wilson and Son at the University Press. This small quarto edition serves as a representative example of American decorative bookbinding and illustrated gift books from the Victorian era. The cloth binding exhibits moderate wear, including rubbing, light soiling, and bumping to the corners and spine ends. The gilt and color stamping on the front cover remain largely bright. Internally, the pages show visible foxing and age-toning, particularly on the preliminary leaves and edges of the text block. The binding remains firm and the hinges are intact.