THE WORKS OF ALFRED LORD TENNYSON POET LAUREATE. With a fore edge painting of a medieval knight and horse.

London: Macmillan and Co., 1892. Book. Very good+ condition. Hardcover. Early edition. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. viii, 807 pages of text including an index to the first lines. Bound in handsome mottled full leather, with gilt-stamped lettering on the spine and front cover, and raised bands. All page edges are gilt-covered. Minor shelfwear. Signed binding, with binder's emblem stamped in gilt on the inner front board: MUDIE. Marbled endpapers. With a fore-edge painting (an original watercolor) of a medieval knight in shining armor standing next to his horse. Fore-edge painting is an unusual form of original art created when the artist, painting in watercolor, paints on the closed page edges of a book while they are held fast at a slight angle. When dry, the pages are allowed to close normally, then are mechanically compressed and covered in heavy gilt. The gilt often creates a completely hidden painting (as is the case here), until the page edges are manually (and carefully) fanned out to reveal the artwork. Illustrated with an engraved Frontis portrait of Tennyson. Additional illustration of A. H. Hallam affixed to the 2nd front endpaper. The text is clean and unmarked. First printed by R. & R. Clark in 1884, this popular work went through almost a dozen printings, some including corrections and additions, until the date of publication of this printing in May of 1892. Measures 7.25" (186mm) in height..