Signed MACLEHOSE. GLASGOW. Turn ins tooled in gold. Smooth spine tooled and lettered in gold. Edward Bayntun Coward states; Ink stamp of Bolton Public Libraries on the verso of the title (along with acquisition number) and foot of p.329. A very good copy of this significant Sixties book. Published at five guineas, it was described by a contemporary Times critic as "the greatest illustrative achievement by any single hand". The binding probably dates from the 1890s and must be one of MacLehose's more original and elaborate works. James MacLehose (1811-1885) established himself as a bookseller in Glasgow in 1838, initially in partnership with Robert Nelson, and on his own from 1841. In 1849 he moved to 61 St. Vincent Street and in 1862 a bindery was added. In 1881 he took on his two sons and they carried on the business after his death. A portrait of the founder was printed in The British Bookmaker, vol.VI, no.66, December 1892, pp.125-6, and the reported noted that "the binding department has been made a very important branch of the establishment, where work is executed in the very best style, but no ordinary trade work is done. All the books bound here are either the firm's own work, or the work of private customers who, appreciating its quality, frequently send long distances to secure the execution of their orders meeting their own requirements. Levant, morocco, and a special calf are the principal styles, hand finished and single lettered, and though many of the books are elaborately bound with special designs, a large share are in the severely plain style which finds favour particularly in Scotland".