75/1562 [Neo-gothic book production and medievalism]. Parables of our Lord. London, Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, (1847), 31 [=32],IIp., entirely printed in CHROMOLITHOGRAPHY and GOLD w. richly decorated borders by H.N. HUMPHREYS, orig. black papier maché binding designed by H.N. HUMPHREYS w. both covers in high-reliëf carving showing the symbols of the Evangelists in outer corners and central image showing the Parable of the Sower, gilt inside dentelles, a.e.g., kept in modern cloth casette.

- Final 2 lvs. sl. foxed; trifle fingersoiled. Backcover unobtrusively cracked.

= McLean, Victorian book design and colour printing, p.72-73: "The binding of one of his 1847 books, Parables of Our Lord, was even more unusual. It was the first of the so-called "papier maché" bindings, contrived to look like carved ebony (...). They were cast in a black plaster composition, over papier maché, often reinforced with metal. The result was splendidly gothic and impressive (...) Noel Humphreys has captured some of the medieval Flemish illuminator's spirit but has added to it an inventiveness and artistry of his own, based on an artist's feeling for the strange intricacies of flower and leaf, backed by a naturalist's knowledge". McLean, Victorian publishers' book-bindings in paper, p.51; Ball, Victorian publishers' bindings, p.144 and 149. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE XLIX.