Beware! Fox's Book of Martyrs: A Universal History of Christian Martyrdom, 1835 curioisity as opposed to many "wood

as opposed to many "wood spirit" carvings--faces carved into branches with the bark on them--which are pretty kitschy

with a horizontal band of diamond shapes around the center

so I carve some and play the fiddle

with an early incarnation of the lettering still visible under the current hand-painted version

and 2nd half 19th c seems right

Beware! Fox's Book of Martyrs: A Universal History of Christian Martyrdom, 1835 curioisity as opposed to many "woodNot for the faint of heart! But pretty amazing! And made even better by the warning on the first page, in lieu of a cover: "To The Reader Beware if you are found with this Book in your possession you are in danger. Please be carefull [sic]." Plus symbolic representations of Pope Alexander and Christ. And then, just after the title page: "Please preserve. This is the last copy in existence," noted by Phil S. Heuss in 1942. Wow! A little research tells