Nice bindings.

I've never seen blind-stamped gilt edges to a book before - impressive. The chap who brought them in, a two vol. Complete Works of Byron circa 1870's, didn't want to sell them, only to find out how much they might be worth.The decorated gilt edges certainly would put the value up for me, they were the most attractive feature of the books which were otherwise quite heavily foxed, the half-calf binding OK but not brilliant. If I had bought them I think I'd want to put them edge-side out on the shelves. I wish I could have taken a photograph but didn't think of it at the time.

Then I did buy 'The Critical Edition of the Life and works of Burns' in a handsome single volume with raised bands and lots of gilt decoration. It has been reprinted as a 'print-on-demand' boook so if someone only wants the content that is what they will go for, but this book is an impressive piece of furniture for the true collector!

I went to see Tom in Cullen today, a 60 mile round trip on a heavy hot overcast day. It wasn't the most enjoyable outing I have had but as he was loading books into my car for me he saw two rather splendid looking sets, blue cloth highly decorated with gilt, worth absolutely nothing, that I used recently to even off the back of the car when I was moving boxes of books. His enthusiasm for them was such that I gave them to him and he gave me an antique pair of ear-rings.

I think I got the beter deal.