[Specimen copy for the Plates only] The Marchioness of Brinvilliers

pp.1-10 text, 15 detached plates with tissue-guards (as called for), text (concluding mid-sentence, bound in to grey-blue printed wraps, reinforced spine, 2 closed tear, chipped and sunned. Full quotation of title om front wrap: Specimen copy for the Plates only | The Marchioness of Brinvilliers | By | Albert Smith | Illustrated by John Leech | [Bentley insignia] | With fifteen spirited full-page Etchings on Steel, only once before printed from,* onthe first publication of the story, in its serial | form, about 1842. | *Besides twenty-seven impressions for the Leech Catalogue. | In one volume, royal 8vo, cloth binding; to be issued in the autumn of 1886........[Imprint] This is one of two copies found in the residue Bentley archive (list provided on request) which also included a volume with specimen plates from Julia Pardoe's Francis the First and his Time. An unusual piece of publishing history, reflecting the Bentley penchant for printing minimal quantities of items to be enjoyed in-house. No copy listed on COPAC