#calf binding

Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) first published The Botanic Garden: A Poem in 1791, in which he used the Linnaean System of botany as a basis to creatively write about the physiology and sexual lives of plants. This two-volume edition was published in 1799 and is bound in tree calf leather, a binding style created when calf leather is stained and polished to resemble wood grain.

Images from:

Darwin. Erasmus. The Botanic Garden: A Poem. London : printed for J. Johnson..., 1799.

Call Number: PR3396 .A62 1799

Here is an early 20th century example of tree calf binding, which was created when calf leather was stained to resemble wood grain and then polished. The style likely first appeared in the late 18th century. The endpapers to this book are marbled.

Images from:

Mrs. A. Murray Smith’s The Roll-Call of Westminster Abbey. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1902.

Call Number: DA687 .W5 S65 1902