In 1816, the London bookbinder John Whittaker (also described as a bookseller or associated with other book-related occupations[1]) produced a luxury edition of Magna Carta on its 600th anniversary.[2][3] It was officially styled Magna Carta Regis Johannis XV. Die Junii Anno Regni XVII.[4]
The text of Whittaker's Magna Carta was in gold.[5] Copies in the small edition were intended for the king and other nobles;[3] George III and either John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, or his son, were known to have copies.[6] Different copies use different materials: some are printed on vellum, others on satin or paper.[7] About 40 were auctioned in the 20th century.[8] Thomas Frognall Dibdin described Whittaker's Magna Carta as "gorgeous and truly unrivalled" in Bibliographical Decameron.[7]
Citations
edit- ^ Gregory 2018, pp. 212–213.
- ^ Gregory 2018, p. 211.
- ^ a b "An Illustrated Catalogue of 'A Scholars' Paradise: A Centenary Exhibition of Notable Books and Manuscripts'". Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester. 82: 152. 2000. ISSN 0301-102X.
- ^ Friend 1944, p. 39.
- ^ Gregory 2018, p. 212.
- ^ Friend 1944, p. 41.
- ^ a b Maggs 2000, p. 271.
- ^ Maggs 2000, p. 272.
Works cited
edit- Friend, William L. (1944). "Magna Carta in Gold". Quarterly Journal of Current Acquisitions. 1 (4): 39–42. ISSN 0090-0095. JSTOR 29780350.
- Gregory, James (3 May 2018). "The 'Fancy for Fine Printing': Collecting Whittaker's Golden Magna Carta". In Bautz, Annika; Gregory, James (eds.). Libraries, Books, and Collectors of Texts, 1600–1900. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780429489600. ISBN 978-0-429-48960-0.
- Maggs, Bryan (2000). "John Whittaker's Edition of the Magna Carta, Its Printing, and His Bindings on the Wormsley Copies". In Pearson, David (ed.). For the Love of the Binding: Studies in Bookbinding History Presented to Mirjam Foot. London: British Library; Oak Knoll Press. ISBN 1-58456-035-5. OCLC 45024505.
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