John Bain Jr. (American, )
Vol. 1: Tobacco in Song and Story
H. M. Caldwell Co., NY / BOSTON, 1896
Book – 6 ¾” long x 4 ½” wide
Box – 7” long x 5” wide x 1 ¼” deep
Description & Notes: Offered is a rare boxed example of John Bain Jr.’s Tobacco in Song & Story, published by H. M. Caldwell Co., Boston, 1896, dedicated to the art and experience of tobacco leaf enjoyment. This small compilation of smoking references in literature is bound in soft tobacco coloured suede, the cover decoration impressed in gilt, published in creamy deckle-edged paper, featuring an integral golden yellow silk cigar ribbon place marker, and housed in an authentic wood cigar-box slip-cover. With a holistic approach, everything about the subject matter – the glorification and romanticism of the leaf – is rolled into the presentation. As a tobacco leaf is not simply a commodity to consume it is rather a natural good to be revered – this book is meant to be digested with the senses.
