Specimen Copy of The Family History of England - William Mackenzie, c.1879
Edited by Rev. James Taylor.

A rare publisher’s specimen in full gilt leather, with plates, maps, and prospectus for a lavishly illustrated Victorian history of England.
 
Features
Title: The Family History of England: Civil, Military, Social, Commercial & Religious from the Earliest Period to the Present Time
Editor: Rev. James Taylor, D.D.
Publisher: William Mackenzie, 22 Paternoster Row, London; 48 Howard St, Glasgow; 59 South Bridge, Edinburgh
Date: c.1879 or earlier (pen inscription dated Dec 25th, 1879)
Binding: Full gilt leather with gilt title and blind-stamped ornamental borders
Edges: All edges gilt
Illustrated: 17 plates (some in colour), 3 maps, facsimiles of historical documents, and specimen decorations
 
Physical Description
A handsome and rare salesman’s specimen copy issued to promote subscription to The Family History of England, a major Victorian historical project. This volume contains:
1 title page
1-page printed prospectus
17 illustrative plates with tissue guards, including another example title page (in colour), portraits, and engravings.
3 full-page maps
a facsimile of a Convocation of the Clergy on the Articles of our Faith, in the 28th year of the reign of King Henry VIII, A.D. 1536, and a fold out facsimile of the Death Warrant for the Execution of Charles The First
Syllabus of Leading Events
3 genealogical trees
Sample content: eight-page excerpts from several chapters
Mounted leather spine samples and example front cover design pasted to the front and rear pastedowns
Original endpapers in yellow
 
Measures approx. 27.4 × 19 x 1.7 cm; weighs 588g. Printed in double columns, with ornate headings and text blocks featuring detailed engravings, battle scenes, facsimiles of documents, and genealogical trees.
 
Condition
Structurally sound and complete, with some honest signs of age and handling:
Cover is intact and robust. Rubbing to edges and spine ends; light chipping to board corners and spine bottom edge.
A small section of spine missing at bottom
Internally clean and predominantly uncreased, with only light age toning and foxing and the occasional other light or small mark.
A few pages have small rippled or rough edges, but text and illustrations are unaffected
Front free endpaper bears a neat ink inscription: “Lottie Goodley with Papa’s Love, Dec 25th 1879”
A couple of pages with minor cracking in the gutters, but binding remains tight and secure
 
Historical & Bibliographic Context
Salesman's specimen copies were produced in limited numbers for the use of subscription agents, allowing them to demonstrate the quality and appearance of proposed volumes to potential buyers. This example was produced for the lavishly illustrated Family History of England, edited by James Taylor, who also compiled the Pictorial History of Scotland.
 
Such copies are valuable bibliographic artifacts, offering a glimpse into Victorian-era publishing and marketing practices. The survival of both binding samples and publisher’s cover example, along with a rich suite of illustrations and maps, makes this a particularly desirable and complete example.
 
A fine addition for collectors of Victorian publishing history, historical facsimiles, or salesman’s dummies, and a striking display piece in its own right.