Parables of Our Lord

1847

Special Collections BT373 E5 1847

London: Longman & Co.

The 32 richly coloured chromolithographed pages of Henry Noel Humphrey’s Parables of our Lord (1847) are bound in a black polished calf with blind-stamped design bevelled boards. This publication, with its centre oval gilt title, was bound by James Hayday (1796–1872), who operated in premises at 31 Little Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. He liked books to lay flat when opened, and to achieve this effect he often sewed the books all along every sheet. To remedy the extra thickness that would be caused by sewing with thread, he used silk. To make the back tight he dispensed with the ordinary backing of paper, and fastened the leather cover down to the back. Hayday became famous for his bindings.