"The Leisure Hour" (A family Journal of instruction and recreation) for the year 1868. This book has 826 pp. and is full of events of the era. You'll be amazed at all the topics, way too many to list here but I will indicate of few (the ones that interest me the most, anyway):
Life on Amba Magdala the state prison of Abyssinia, The gold fields and diamond beds of South Africa, Alone at sea, Recent Arctic discovery, The explorers Christmas in Australia, Elephant hunting in South Africa, Cotton and Railways in India, Life in Japan, Dr. Livingstone, Sperm whale fishing, Two months in Spain, The Abyssinian Campaign, British museum, The Caucasus, The divorce court, Indian railways, New Zealand, Palestine exploration, How Monkeys became men, archaeology, anthropology, etc etc etc Full of engravings and some color ones too. Lots of these events were novelty back then but today some of these event are historic and proved to change the world. Told from the time it happened. This book is full of history. The book is large and heavy. The binding is ribbed leather as are the corner tips. The front cover seems like leather and is peeling and the entire binding comes off. However you just need to glue it back. It is just the glue that has weakened. There is foxing throughout but not bad. Page 563/564 is torn and missing as is the frontis plate and the last page of book. Nothing major. I'm making it sound worse on purpose. These books are very rare and insightful. Hard to find. I guarantee you will enjoy many hours of reading and learning. This one is for the collection!
