In 1911, Cambridge University Press completed publication of the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, twenty-nine volumes drawing on more than 1,500 contributors, and still regarded as the finest single edition of the work ever published. In the same year, Louis Vuitton produced a trunk designed to carry it, and stamped the interior lid with the words that define the present example: "Specially made for the Encyclopaedia Britannica by Louis Vuitton."
That inscription transforms the trunk from a rare specialized object into a primary document, a manufacturer's statement of purpose applied at the moment of production and surviving intact after more than a century. It confirms not merely that the model was designed to house the Encyclopaedia Britannica, but that it was produced under a specific commission between the two houses.
The trunk is constructed in Louis Vuitton's monogram canvas, here in the smaller-scale, higher-density pattern of the period, with embossed lozine border trim, reinforced brass corner guards, and a large central brass lock plate. The top-mounted leather handle retains its original structure. The form is long, low, and proportioned to hold the volumes in a single fitted layer, a configuration so specific to its purpose that no other use would have suggested it. The trunk is presented on a purpose-made brass stand that raises it to console height, the volumes visible along the full length of the open case.
The interior is lined in the house's period fabric and fitted for the volumes it was designed to hold. Twenty-eight volumes of the Eleventh Edition, published by Cambridge University Press, are present in the original fitted configuration.
Library trunks of this model were produced in very small numbers. Examples in any condition are rare; examples retaining their original volumes are rarer still. An example bearing the original commission inscription in the interior lid is, to the best of our knowledge, without precedent in the current market.
Interior lid inscription: "Specially made for the Encyclopaedia Britannica by Louis Vuitton"
Contents: Eleventh Edition, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Cambridge University Press, twenty-eight volumes in the original fitted interior
Provenance: Private collection, United States
Stand: Purpose-made brass
Height: 10½ in (26.5 cm)
Width: 35 in (89 cm)
Depth: 13 in (33 cm)
Condition: Very good overall. The monogram canvas shows honest wear consistent with age and travel; structure and hardware are well preserved throughout. Lozine trim intact. Brass hardware complete, with corner guards, lock plate, and handle all present. The interior lid inscription is present and legible, the fitted interior intact, and twenty-eight volumes present.
Literature
Pierre Léonforte and Éric Pujalet-Plaà, Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks, New York, 2010, p. 253.
Paul-Gérard Pasols, Louis Vuitton: The Birth of Modern Luxury, New York, 2005.
In 1911, Cambridge University Press completed publication of the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, twenty-nine volumes drawing on more than 1,500 contributors, and still regarded as the finest single edition of the work ever published. In the same year, Louis Vuitton produced a trunk designed to carry it, and stamped the interior lid with the words that define the present example: "Specially made for the Encyclopaedia Britannica by Louis Vuitton."
That inscription transforms the trunk from a rare specialized object into a primary document, a manufacturer's statement of purpose applied at the moment of production and surviving intact after more than a century. It confirms not merely that the model was designed to house the Encyclopaedia Britannica, but that it was produced under a specific commission between the two houses.
The trunk is constructed in Louis Vuitton's monogram canvas, here in the smaller-scale, higher-density pattern of the period, with embossed lozine border trim, reinforced brass corner guards, and a large central brass lock plate. The top-mounted leather handle retains its original structure. The form is long, low, and proportioned to hold the volumes in a single fitted layer, a configuration so specific to its purpose that no other use would have suggested it. The trunk is presented on a purpose-made brass stand that raises it to console height, the volumes visible along the full length of the open case.
The interior is lined in the house's period fabric and fitted for the volumes it was designed to hold. Twenty-eight volumes of the Eleventh Edition, published by Cambridge University Press, are present in the original fitted configuration.
Library trunks of this model were produced in very small numbers. Examples in any condition are rare; examples retaining their original volumes are rarer still. An example bearing the original commission inscription in the interior lid is, to the best of our knowledge, without precedent in the current market.
Interior lid inscription: "Specially made for the Encyclopaedia Britannica by Louis Vuitton"
Contents: Eleventh Edition, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Cambridge University Press, twenty-eight volumes in the original fitted interior
Provenance: Private collection, United States
Stand: Purpose-made brass
Height: 10½ in (26.5 cm)
Width: 35 in (89 cm)
Depth: 13 in (33 cm)
Condition: Very good overall. The monogram canvas shows honest wear consistent with age and travel; structure and hardware are well preserved throughout. Lozine trim intact. Brass hardware complete, with corner guards, lock plate, and handle all present. The interior lid inscription is present and legible, the fitted interior intact, and twenty-eight volumes present.
Literature
Pierre Léonforte and Éric Pujalet-Plaà, Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks, New York, 2010, p. 253.
Paul-Gérard Pasols, Louis Vuitton: The Birth of Modern Luxury, New York, 2005.
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