a binding by john winstanley of manchester
Binder’s ticket. Original 12 x 23 mm. (Bennetto Photography)
to be more complimentary. His Latin translations of the memoirs of Angelus Politianus and others were also described as being careless and unmethodical in a contemporary review. By contrast the work under consideration here is a topographical poem, printed by Henry Smith of Manchester for private circulation, and was described by Bertram Dobell, perhaps a little grudgingly, as ‘not destitute of merit’, with ample notes ‘full of interest’. 6 The monastery of Saint Werburgh is not a particularly rare work. Research on the internet can easily come up with between thirty and forty original copies. They appear often to have been issued originally in paper covers or paper- or cloth-covered boards, to judge from many of these surviving examples. This copy of The monastery , in the possession of the writer, is inscribed “From the Author” on the title-page. While there is little doubt this inscription is in Greswell’s hand it may not indicate an intimate association between the author and the unnamed recipient. 7 However, the ticketed J. Winstanley binding adds a considerable further level of sophistication. Finally, and in addition, the volume is extra-illus- 6 . Catalogue of books printed for private circulation / collected by Bertram Dobell, and now described and annotated by him. (London, 1906) p.123. 7 . Especially as Greswell is often quite specific and more e V usive in his not uncommon presentation inscriptions.
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