The New Age Of Gold; Or The Life And Adventures Of Robert Dexter Romaine. Written by himself, Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company. 13 Winter Street, 1856. A first edition in an exquisite binding by Stikeman & Co., with five raised bands, six compartments with gilt lettering and elaborate gilt tooling on the spine, "Boston 1856" on the heel, gilt vines or foliate designs within triple gilt fillets on red crushed morocco covers, thirteen gilt fillet borders with silk doublures and red watered (moire) silk endpapers and "Stikeman & Co." at the bottom of the paste-down with gilt fillets, one of the blank front endpapers is signed "George Payson 1875 George S. Payson" and "Edith Hamilton" is inscribed in pencil at the top of the title page, dated 1856 and "Stereotyped by Hobart & Robbins, New England Type and Stereotype Foundery, Boston" on the copyright page, and eight-page Table of Contents, 403 pages of text followed by ads for Phillips, Sampson & Co's Publications on four leaves at the rear, and all the edges are gilt. Robert Dexter Romaine was apparently the pseudonym of George Payson (1824 - 1893), which means this book may have been signed by the author, and it is about someone yearning to be Robinson Crusoe and discover the world at sea, he finds gold and returns to Boston and wants to be with the woman he loves. Se Sabin 72890. Beautifully bound by the workshop of Henry Stikeman, one of the leading American binders of the period, and probably rebound by Stikeman in the 1890's. It is also a first edition because there is just one date on the title page and copyright page, and both dates match. (See A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions by Bill McBride.) The book is 8vo. and measures 7 x 4 3/4 in. wide and is exceptionally rare in this condition. The binding is clean and tight, with just a smidge of rubbing along the bottom edge of the spine on the front cover, and the text has occasional brown spots and soiling, but it is hard to find books bound by Stikeman, and Stikeman bindings can also be expensive. #1686 #62