its cover was black leather
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
There are two of them preserved in the Public Record Office.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “its cover was black leather” mean?
There are two of them preserved in the Public Record Office.
Is “its cover was black leather” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.