Friday, Mar 26, 2021

We're sometimes asked what "original condition" really looks like: it varies widely according to type time and place of publication of course, but here's a particularly striking example. Canon Guillaume Baston's rare 4-volume fantasy about the Tahitian Omai, who came back to England on Cook's second voyage, "Narrations d’Omaï, Insulaire de la Mer du Sud, Ami et Companion de Voyage du Capitaine Cook", was published in Rouen in 1790.  As issued, and before being put into a binding to a buyer's taste, it was presented in very simple paper wrappers, with printed paper labels on the spines. The edges were uncut (sometimes referred to as deckle edges) and the books were not pressed as they would have been if bound. This unpressed copy is almost twice as thick as any copies which were put into bindings at the time. See more here.