DRAPERY

A nice piece of Edwardian trade ephemera. It would appear that W. B. Corsets were running a franchise scheme, providing suppliers with their catalogue and printing the franchisee's name on the back cover: little is to be discovered about either firm. No other copy traced. Hard to date: the corsets have an Edwardian feel, but some features of the illustrations may suggest a slightly later date. A 12mo stapled pamphlet, consisting of 20 pages on ten leaves of shiny paper: unnumbered front and back leaves, and pages on central eight leaves numbered 1-16.

There is no indication of the author's identity, but one of the customers is named as 'Mr: Dougall Campball', and others include 'Balantine', 'Mr Connor', 'Mr Hall', 'Thomas Eson' and 'Tho Eison'. The sums involved are large, and the document would appear to suggest a wholesaler. 2pp, folio, on a leaf of laid paper with no watermark. Aged and worn, with chipping along one edge resulting in slight loss to some of the figures on one side of the leaf.

The five volumes are folio and uniform in brown marbled card wraps, with white printed label on cover of 'Merchants' Accounts, adapted to Dr. Brewer's Book-Keeping by single entry', with one of the follovwing printed beneath: 'Bought Ledger', 'Cash Book', 'Day Book', 'Invoice Book' and 'Ledger'. Each of the volumes has 'Master F. Sussman' written neatly across the label. The 'Invoice Book' has seventeen invoices neatly folded and tipped in onto five pages.