Poetically illustrated by the L.E.L.

London, Pub. by the Proprietors [Schloss, 1839]

Minuscule (10 x 20 mm) with 61 p. and 6 plates.
Paperback, light blue illustrated cover
Frontispiece with engraved portrait of Queen Victoria.

This almanac is a Schloss publication, with six delicate engravings of portraits of the Duke of Wellington, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Beethoven, The Duchess of Kent and Lady Blessingtonde.

They are preceded by poems, by L.E.L., [Letitia Elizabeth Landon], which she gives here for the last time, after the first four editions that made Schloss miniature editions famous. This poetic dimension lent literary credibility to a work that was already a marvel of miniature printing, and which she salutes here one last time in “A Farewell”: “My little fairy chronicle, the most beautiful of my tasks, farewell! “.

Albert Schloss published editions of the work every year from 1835 to 1843, which were highly acclaimed and the most remarkable of the Victorian era. The 1838 volume was dedicated to Queen Victoria, and this one includes a portrait of Prince Albert, in honor of the impending royal nuptials.

A rare copy in its original binding, with a delicate blue cover.

“Between 1836 and 1843, a series of fully engraved almanacs of quite exceptional quality, published by Albert Schloss, luxury stationer, to Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Kent, appeared in London.
For the first three years, they were called The English Bijou Almanack and, from 1839 to 1843, Schloss’s English Bijou Almanac. They are veritable miracles of engraving, illustration, binding and presentation (…) The illustrations show portraits of sovereigns and statesmen, biblical figures, views of buildings or landscapes, etc. (…) For their presentation, Albert Schloss achieved a high degree of sophistication, publishing them in delicately colored and stamped flexible boards, in elegant and splendidly decorated morocco or vellum bindings, always protected by matching slipcases. To protect these highly vulnerable treasures, Schloss produced elegant, close-fitting silk and morocco slipcases, complete with magnifying glass”.(Bondy, in Livres miniatures).

Bondy 42; Bromer & Edison 94 ; Welsh 2658 ; Miniature books : 4000 years of tiny treasures n° 95.

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