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1886 MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITY YAGGY HAINES ANCIENT LIFE ILLUSTRATED GILT LEATHER
This is Museum of Antiquity: A Description of Ancient Life, by L. W. Yaggy and T. L. Haines, published in 1886 by Law, King & Law / Western Publishing House, Chicago. The bibliographic record gives it as a large illustrated volume of xiv + 944 pages with plates, illustrations, and plans, copyright originally dating to 1880, with earlier editions/printings appearing before this 1886 issue. So: precise date for this copy is 1886.
This was the kind of enormous late-Victorian “parlor education” book meant to sit on a table and make a household look learned before anyone even opened it. The contents cover Pompeii, Roman domestic life, amusements, utensils, Troy, Nineveh and Babylon, mythology, fine arts, literature, tombs, catacombs, and “truth of the Bible.” It is basically a 19th-century illustrated museum between boards—heavy, dramatic, and wildly Victorian.
About the authors / publisher:
Levi W. Yaggy was a Chicago author, publisher, businessman, inventor, and educational-chart maker. Western Publishing was known as a subscription-book publisher, meaning books like this were often sold directly rather than as ordinary bookstore stock—door-to-door culture with gilt edges, big promises, and enough visual drama to stop Aunt Martha mid-tea.
Binding / appearance:
Large Victorian hardcover in a deluxe decorative binding with pebbled dark brown boards, raised/embossed floral and geometric decoration, and gilt lettering on both cover and spine. The illustrated title, spine stamping, and inner gilt dentelle-style border give it excellent shelf appeal. Comparable descriptions note half leather, gilt-stamped decoration, marbled edges/endpapers, steel-engraved plates, and many in-text illustrations.
Condition:
Good antique condition overall. Covers are still very attractive with strong gilt and bold embossing. There is notable rubbing, scuffing, edge wear, corner wear, and leather wear/loss along the spine edges and board edges. Interior pages shown look clean and readable with normal age toning. Tissue guard is present and toned. Frontispiece and title page are present. The binding should be described conservatively as showing age and exterior wear, but with great display presence.
