Description:

Henrietta Dumont The Floral Offering Book c1853.

This wonderful antique book is entitled The Floral Offering, A Token of Affection and Esteem, Comprising the Language and Poetry of Flowers. It is by Henrietta Dumont, and dates Pre-Civil War at 1853.

Inside are lovely expositions on the virtues each flower stood for, and its symbolism. There are six hand-colored engravings, as well as a section at the back which has a single flower portrayed for each day of the year. In addition, it includes the ‘Dial of Flowers’, which details how many hours a flower is open, as well as how many hours it is shut.

This book is really a rare treat, very hard-to-find. It has light gray cloth hardbound cover boards. BOTH the front and back have a gilt design, with a lady strumming a harp at the center. The spine is also gilt detailed. The inside pages are remarkably bright and gilt tipped and have minimal foxing (as is usual for a book of its age). The flyleaf papers have a bit more foxing/wear. The cover boards are quite good with wear to the spine, and spine ends. I’m sure it was lovingly used. Overall in good condition, definitely an asset to any collection, and very precious and dear. Size is 5 x 7.25 inches, 300 pages, a sweet gift for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, or birthday.

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