Product Details

Beautiful 5-volume German edition of Lessings Werke (Works of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing), edited by Franz Bornmüller and published in Leipzig and Vienna by Bibliographisches Institut. An exceptionally decorative late 19th-century set featuring richly gilt and black-stamped spines, elaborate embossed covers, and attractive maroon title panels. A striking shelf display set from one of Germany’s most important Enlightenment writers, philosopher-critics, and dramatists. Interiors include engraved portrait frontispiece and ornate publisher’s decorative endpapers. Bindings remain attractive overall with rubbing and edge wear, including bumping and small losses at corners and spine ends. One volume shows surface staining/ink marks to the rear board. Text blocks display age toning and decorative crackled page-edge treatment. A handsome antique library set ideal for decorative use, German literature collections, or study of Enlightenment philosophy and drama.