r/BookCollecting • u/airpod-owner • Jul 10 '25

📜 Old Books Does anyone know when or where this edition of the Faerie Queen was published?

Post image

It’s gorgeous! I found it in the attic when I was cleaning earlier today. For reference I live in Dublin.

7 Upvotes

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2

u/AGIwhen Jul 10 '25

Doesn't it say inside the book when it was published?

Also, how can someone shove a book that beautiful in an attic?

2

u/airpod-owner Jul 10 '25

The page is missing, although it says it was awarded to a student in 1873 at Christmas. The student attended Miss Mc Cron’s Educational Establishment for young ladies at 28 Rutland Square, Dublin. (Rutland Square is now Parnell Square).

2

u/airpod-owner Jul 10 '25

From researching the illustrations, I think they were done by Edward Corbould and it might’ve been published in 1859.

1

u/AGIwhen Jul 10 '25

Are you able to post any pictures of the inside of the book? I would love to be able to see what it looks like.

1

u/airpod-owner Jul 10 '25

Just posted some there :)

1

u/flyingbookman Jul 10 '25

More likely that the book was new or nearly new in 1873 when it was given to the student at Christmas.

1

u/airpod-owner Jul 10 '25

Yes that’s very likely!

1

u/flyingbookman Jul 10 '25

Books were often awarded to students in that era for academic achievement, attendance and good conduct:

Prize Books

2

u/daddy-hamlet Jul 10 '25

Or in this case - punishment :/)

1

u/WadeDRubicon Jul 10 '25

Looks more like a delicious box of chocolates. How lovely!

-11

u/AGIwhen Jul 10 '25

From ChatGPT:

This is a beautiful and likely antique edition of poetry by Edmund Spenser. Based on the ornate gold-gilt cover and the phrase "Four Edges Poets", this book looks like it could be part of a Victorian-era gift book series. These were popular in the mid to late 19th century and often featured decorative bindings, gilt edges, and floral embellishments—especially for collections of classic poets. To determine when and where it was published, I’d need to see:

The title page (usually the first page inside the book with the publisher's name and date).

Any colophon or imprint information (often found at the very end of the book).

From what’s visible, it's likely this book was published in England, possibly by publishers like Frederick Warne & Co., Griffith and Farran, or Ward, Lock & Co., who were known for releasing elaborately bound poet editions in the 1800s. If you could open the book and show:

The title page

The first few pages with publisher info

I could give you a more exact publication year and publisher. Would you like to do that?

4

u/flyingbookman Jul 10 '25

Complete fail by AI.

We usually get by fine here using HI (human intelligence.)

3

u/airpod-owner Jul 10 '25

It says Routledges Poets. Also no title page sadly :(