SIMMONS (Owen). The Book of Bread.1903

London: Maclean & Sons, First edition, 4to (287 x 220 mm), 360pp., with a list of subscribers and adverts to rear, one of 350 de-luxe copies, 10 tipped-in silver bromide prints caption-titled on 8 brown stock card with letterpress caption title and 2 on green stock card, edges lightly silvered, a couple of small folds to inner corners, mounts slightly spotted, 12 chromolithographic plates (two with striking blue background), 6 further illustrations in the text, marbled endpapers, bound in the original de-luxe binding of red pebbled-grained morocco, rubbed and a little scuffed, bevelled boards, upper board with title stamped in gilt, all edges gilt. "Simmons preceded the trade edition of his book with a stunning edition de luxe of roughly 350 copies, bound in red grained Moroccan leather with the original silver bromide prints pasted in. While the larger print run of the trade edition necessitated a switch to more cost-effective photomechanical illustrations, Simmons still made the unusual step of retaining two pasted-in silver bromide prints (the ones [on green stock card]) in addition to the beautiful chromolithograph plates, where golden loaves glow against an ultramarine background... The talented photographer remains nameless and, for unknown reasons, very few deluxe editions of The Book of Bread have survived, despite a fairly generous initial printing."—Dukes, The Book of Bread (1903).