From a distance it looks like a 7 to me, close up it looks like a 9 but the loop is very small compared to the 8. Could be a 7 with a flourish, I've
seen loops before but further away from the diagonal. 1871 would be the year after publication, which would fit better than 21 years after
publication. His wife was probably given several copies. That said "As a remembrance of his trip to London" makes no sense to me and I read the name
as "Mr Philips" and it has 1 L, W. Phillips has 2 in Chemical manipulation. |