Binding

The binding of this edition has a black leather spine with gold tooling and black leather on the corners of the book's cover. On the front cover itself is paper over board with a swirl-like effect in dark brown and pale yellow. However, the original colors might have faded. When new the binding would have been quite attractive. As can be seen in the photo above the leather is badly cracked and the condition of the book is quite fragile.

This edition was bound by the work of a hand-binder. Since machine binding did not take place until the 1890s. Also, given the more elaborate binding, with leather and gold tooling, it would have been a more expensive binding to buy. Another book observed recently from the same year, by popular writer Kate Douglas Wiggin, was bound in cloth. The difference between both volumes could be the result of one being sold for individual sale and the more costly one was sold to an institution. Given the background history (with the author's visit to the college), this might also have warranted buying a nicer volume.