Bidspirit auction | 1869. Fleetwood, John. The Life

1869. Fleetwood, John. The Life of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Bradley and Co. - This is a mid-nineteenth-century religious volume titled The Life of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: and the Lives and Sufferings of His Holy Apostles and Evangelists, authored by Rev. John Fleetwood, D.D. This edition is described on the title page as a new and improved edition, featuring notes by Rev. J. Newton Brown, D.D. The work also includes The Lives and Labors of Eminent Christians and Martyrs and A History of the Jews. The volume was published in Philadelphia by Bradley and Co. in 1869, with additional imprints for William Garretson and Co. in Galesburg, Illinois, and R. H. Curran and Co. in Rochester, New York. The copyright page indicates the work was entered according to an Act of Congress in 1868. The book is a thick quarto bound in dark brown, deeply embossed leather or textured cloth. The front cover features a central recessed panel with the gilt title Fleetwood's Life of Christ, surrounded by ornate decorative flourishes and four ribbon scrolls containing the biblical quotations: Take My Yoke Upon You, And Learn Of Me, For I Am Meek, and And Lowly In Heart. The spine is divided into compartments by raised bands and decorated with gilt religious symbols, including a radiant lamb, a cross and anchor, and a dove representing the Holy Spirit. The interior is illustrated with numerous full-page engraved plates, including a frontispiece titled Our Saviour and other plates titled The Land of Rest and The Day of Pentecost. The text was stereotyped, electrotyped, and printed by S. A. George of Philadelphia. The binding shows significant signs of age and wear. There is heavy rubbing to the leather at the extremities, with bumping and exposure at the corners. The spine is worn with chipping at the head and foot and visible cracking along the joints. The interior pages exhibit prominent water staining and tidelines, particularly along the upper margins of many leaves and plates. There is also widespread foxing, toning, and occasional spotting throughout the volume. The gilt on the cover and spine remains largely intact but shows some dulling and minor loss.