Tuker, Mildred Anna Rosalie and Hopę Malleson. Rome. Illustrated by Alberto Pisa. Soho Square, London: Adam and Charles Black, 1905.
(100 x 72mm) xi, 1-267. With 70 illustrated plates in colour. Half title with advert on verso. Red Morocco leather binding by W. Root and Son Binders, London. With gilt gauffering and floral decorations on the turndown and gilt foredges. Red marble pastedowns and fly leaves. Tiffany & co. bookplate of Traver Briscoe and book seller embossing of Charles E. Lauriat, Boston. Minor foxing and some cracking along front hinge at top. Overall VERY GOOD Condition.
An edition truly befit for the splendour of Rome, featuring 70 full colour illustrations by the noted painter, Alberto Pisa (1864 – 1936). The text was penned by Mildred Tuker (1862-1957), a student at Newnham College, Cambridge, within a decade of the College allowing women matriculates. After this, she moved to Rome from 1893 to 1910. She would become an intense advocate for the women’s suffrage movement, publishing on the subject and marching in London. Hope Malleson began Newnham College a year after Mildred, where they must have met. She shared Mildred’s passion for women’s rights. They published several books together over the course of their lives. The details of their time at Cambridge is recorded in the records of the Cambridge Alumni Database.
This edition has been finely bound in full red morocco leather by W. Root & Son, London, with gilt lettering, raised bands, and gilt dentelle turn-ins. From London, the book crossed the Atlantic to be sold through the distinguished Boston bookseller Charles E. Lauriat, who was a survivor of the tragic 1915 sinking of the Lusitania.
This copy includes a presentation inscription dated December 25, 1909, reading: “With the compliments of Rose and Keyes.”
A striking piece, blending artistry, craftsmanship, and historical provenance.