Elaborate and Bright 12mo Valentine with Lace Paper, Embossed Victorian Scrap

England, 1850. very good. Light toning, a little discoloration on verso of upper leaf from adhesive used.. An elaborate, bright and colorful 12mo Valentine made from gilded lace paper, embossed Victorian scrap, and a remarkably modern looking chromolithograph motto on the inside. The motto is titled "To My Beloved" and reads, "Swifter far than the swallow's flight, Homeward o'er the twilight lea; Swifter than the morning's light Flashing o'er the pathless sea, Dearest! In the lonely night, Memory flies away to thee." The surrounding design, though clearly Victorian, feels more like something that would be designed in the 1960s or 1970s. A fine and very interesting Valentine, well-preserved. Bifolium (4.75" by 3.5").