Book of Common Prayer (Presentation Copy)

[BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER]. The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, According to the Use of the United Church of England and Ireland: Together with The Psalter or Psalms of David, Pointed as they are to be Sung or Said in Churches; and the Form and Manner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. Oxford: Printed at the University Press, 1844.

Large Quarto. Full Morocco, elaborately decorated in gilt and blind. Front cover with gilt panel reading: "PRESENTED TO SIR W. T. DENISON K.C.B. GOVERNOR GENERAL OF AUSTRALIA BY THE BISHOP & CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF SYDNEY JAN. 1861." Spine restored, the leather noticeably newer than that of the covers. Bookplate of A. C. Warren Linton of South Gippsland to front pastedown. Presentation copy, with a formal manuscript presentation inscription to the front free endpaper, reading in full: "Presented to Sir W. T. Denison K.C.B., Governor General of the Australian colonies, on his departure to assume the Government of the Presidency of Madras, by the Bishop & Clergy of the Diocese of Sydney, as a token of the high esteem in which his character was held in this community, and a conviction of his sterling qualities of service, England & Ireland. February 19, 1861."

Sir William Thomas Denison (1804–1871), KCB, was one of the most consequential vice-regal figures in the early history of the Australian colonies. A career military engineer trained at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and seasoned by his early work on the Rideau Canal in Canada, Denison served first as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1847, presiding over the final, contentious years of the anti-transportation movement, before his appointment in 1855 as Governor of New South Wales, carrying also the distinctive title of Governor-General "in and over all our Colonies of New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia," a role intended to encourage inter-colonial cooperation in the years before Federation. His tenure in Sydney saw the introduction of responsible constitutional government in 1856, the strengthening of Sydney Harbour's defences amid Crimean War anxieties (Fort Denison, in the harbour, is named for him). He departed Sydney in early 1861 for his next posting as Governor of Madras, and later published a two-volume memoir of his colonial career, Varieties of Vice-Regal Life.

This volume is a formal and richly documented farewell gift, presented to Denison by the Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese of Sydney at the moment of his departure from the colony after six years as its Governor and Governor-General. The dedication is recorded in two distinct and complementary forms: a permanent statement blocked in gilt directly into the leather of the front cover, dated January 1861, and a fuller, formal manuscript inscription to the front free endpaper, dated the 19th of February 1861.

Near fine. Volume excellently preserved. Some restoration work has been done to the volume; spine leather is newer than covers. Binding tight. Gilt decorations, lettering, and edges all bright and bold. Some rubbing along edges. Contents near fine. Bright and clean with only minimal foxing at front and rear. Occasional marking here and there.

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Catalogue Number: HH000740