I am posting this for Stuart Bennett, who is not a member of the list, but
whom I contacted for his well-informed opinion on the matter.
Edward Levin
Stuart Bennett writes:
Dear Jim,
I just received a copy of your query on Ex-Libris, which is fascinating -
I've never seen a statement like that before. But your dating the book
"circa 1785" gives the clue, and I suspect that on the basis of the
"lettering withinside" statement, you can push the actual printing date back
to 1780-1783 or thereabouts.
It appears that around 1780 or just after, supplies of Dutch
marbled/floral paper to England were interrupted. In my Trade Bookbinding
book I patriotically suggest the interruption was probably due to naval
actions on the European front of the American Revolution. But interrupted
they were. Newbery and some other publishers solved the problem by printing
woodcut illustrations on the paper used to cover the boards, but I suspect
the "lettering withinside" gives Marshall's solution to that very
time-specific problem. By 1784 or 1785 supplies of Dutch paper were
restored, and children's publishers went right back to it. So Marshall
likely printed the statement when Dutch paper was unavailable, and bound
your copy after restoration of supply. Obviously from what you write about
the collation of your copy, the "lettering," label must have been tipped in,
or even loosely inserted.
I can't guarantee this is the definitive answer, but I suspect it's
pretty close.
All best,
Stuart
James Burmester wrote:
I am cataloguing a 1785 children's book published by John Marshall of
London
in about 1785. On the title-page, beneath the imprint and the price
appear
the words "N.B. The lettering of this book is withinside." Doubtless this
is a question to which any professional librarian or bookseller will know
the answer, but I don't, and I should be most grateful if someone can tell
me (off-list unless they think the answer might be of general interest)
what
this phrase means.