1901 Augustus Jessopp Before the Great Pillage Harrow Prize Binding For Sale

Augustus Jessopp. Before the Great Pillage, with Other Miscellanies. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1901.

First edition. Octavo. x, 260 pages, followed by publisher’s advertisements.

A handsome Edwardian school-prize copy of Jessopp’s historical and antiquarian essays, awarded to W. Hunt as a Captain’s Prize at the Lower School of John Lyon, Harrow.

The volume is preserved in a decorative full red calf binding with the John Lyon School arms and motto in gilt on the front cover. The original prize bookplate remains on the front pastedown.

The Book

Augustus Jessopp was an English clergyman, antiquary, and essayist known for his studies of medieval parish life, rural clergy, monastic institutions, and English social history.

The principal essays in this collection include:

• “Parish Life in England Before the Great Pillage”
• “The Parish Priest in England Before the Reformation”
• “Robbing God”
• “The Cry of the Villages”
• “The Baptism of Clovis”
• “David and Jonathan”
• “Adam and Eve”
• “Moles”

Jessopp’s phrase “the Great Pillage” refers to the seizure and redistribution of church and monastic property during the Tudor Reformation.

John Lyon School Prize Binding

The original prize bookplate identifies the recipient and award:

W. Hunt
Captain’s Prize
Lower School of John Lyon

The front cover bears the school’s gilt armorial device and motto:

STET FORTUNA DOMUS

“May the fortune of the House stand.”

The school was founded by the Governors of Harrow School in 1876 and was known as the Lower School of John Lyon until 1965. The gilt institutional arms, motto, and named prize bookplate give this copy a direct connection with the school’s Edwardian history.

Binding

• Full red calf leather
• Gilt John Lyon School arms and motto
• Raised spine bands
• Gilt spine compartments
• Contrasting black morocco title label
• Gilt spine lettering
• Marbled endpapers
• Matching marbled page edges
• Original named prize bookplate

Bibliographical Details

• London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1901
• First edition
• Octavo
• x, 260 pages plus publisher’s advertisements
• English text
• John Lyon School Captain’s Prize
• Awarded to W. Hunt

Condition

Very good overall, with visible wear to the prize binding.

The red calf remains attractive, and the gilt school arms, motto, spine decoration, and lettering are clear and legible. There is rubbing and wear along the board edges, corners, joints, raised bands, and other projecting areas. The head of the spine has abrasion and some loss of leather at the crown. The outer joint shows surface rubbing and wear, but the board remains attached and the binding is structurally sound.

The marbled endpapers and page edges remain decorative. The original prize bookplate is present on the front pastedown.

Internally, the pages are generally clean, with light and even age toning and little substantial foxing noted. Please examine all photographs carefully, particularly those showing the spine crown, joints, corners, school arms, and prize bookplate.

A handsome Edwardian prize book combining a first edition of Jessopp’s essays on medieval and Reformation England with a decorative John Lyon School binding, gilt institutional arms, and named school provenance.