Fine binding from the house of
Stephen Austin of Hertford
The Anvár-i Suhailí; or, The Lights of Canopus: Being the Persian Version of The Fables of Pilpay; or, The Book “Kalílah and Damnah,” Rendered into Persian by Husain Vá’iz Ul-Káshifí, Literally Translated into Prose and Verse by Edward B. Eastwick. Hertford: Printed and Published by Stephen Austin, MDCCCLIV [1854].
Full crimson morocco with mauresque designs blocked in gold over green and white leather onlays.
Gilded and gaufered edges, all around.
Gold tooled spine
With the bookplate of Charles E. Lawrence of New York. The design includes a heraldic crest featuring a cross and a lion in the upper section, with a crest above depicting a fish. The Latin motto “In Cruce Salus” translates to “Salvation in the Cross”.
This is probably Charles Embree Lawrence (February 12, 1852 – July 1, 1923) who was a prominent figure in Hauppauge, Long Island, New York, known for his contributions to horse breeding and local history preservation.
There is another copy, dedicated to Queen Victoria, similar to this one in the Royal Collection; here is the description below:
“The Anvar-i Suhaili is a collection of Persian fables based on the Arabic Kalilah wa Dimnah. The translator, Edward Backhouse Eastwick (1814-83) was a professor and librarian at Haileybury College, the East India Company College in Hertfordshire and dedicated the work to Queen Victoria. According to a note in his hand, the binding of this volume was ‘finished entirely at Hertford, in the house of Mr Stephen Austin’ (Stephen Austin was the official printer for the East India Company). ‘The edging alone occupied a very superior workman seven days. The blocks for the ornaments on the outside were cut expressly from Oriental models. On the inside of each board is a painting done by hand and copied from a Persian M.S.’ This manuscript was formerly in the Mughal and Awadh royal libraries, now in the British Library (Add MS 18579). ”
Note the same dies used for the corners and centerpieces as well as the same gaufered edges.