1863 Le Livre de la Première Communion | First Communion Gauffered Star Edges

Le Livre de la Première Communion (The Book of the First Communion). Printed by AH. Casterman, Tornai, Belgium. Published 1863. French Language. 

This is a Roman Catholic instructional guide and prayer book designed to prepare children for their First Holy Communion and help them maintain their religious faith afterward.

Bound in light brown leather with a simple, minimalist design, this gem has five raised bands along the spine; all page edges are gauffered with gold-gilt stars, marbled endpapers, and gold dentelle tooling around the turn-ins on the front and back covers.

The page edges feature an embossed design called a gauffered edge. After the book block was tightly clamped and the page edges were sanded, a master binder used heated brass finishing tools to hand-stamp the delicate golden starry design into the page edges. It was a premium feature reserved for luxury devotional or presentation books in the mid-19th century. 

85 mm W x 120 mm H. 510 pages.

Condition: discoloration spots and marks on covers and spine, some rubbing to corners, minor foxing throughout, and some wear to hinge corners. Page edges have faint red coloring in some spots. Aside from the discoloration, the book is in very good condition. 

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