Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Faust - Frederick Bruckmann, 1877, First Thus.

London, Frederick Bruckmann, 1877. First Thus. Hardback. Very good condition. This is not a book to read in bed, not because of the selling-one's-soul-to-the-devil business, we've all done that in bed, rather it weighs the best part of a ton. It's 39 cm by 52 cm and embellished with metal work. An elephant folio, I guess, if said elephant is a war elephant bedecked with metal plating. It's illustrated by Prof August Von Keeling with numerous vignettes and 14 full-page illustrations (I say full-page, but they're about A4 with a six inch margin). It's a pretty nice volume in all seriousness, provided you have a team to help you read it. The leather is quite scuffed and chipped at the spine tips. The metal cornerpieces have done their job and protected the book pretty well. Some of the plates, where glued in are a bit loose but all are held. There's some silverfish damage towards the end but given the size of the book it would require an army of silverfish to make much headway and, from the findings of my limited experimentation, silverfish don't readily form regimented military forces. A fun book. Looking forward to shipping this one. [9573, Hyraxia Books].