Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
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This is the ROBERT TEMPLE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE. It contains descriptions and notes relating to almost 18,000 titles in the fields of British and American literature, being the bulk of the stock that has passed through our hands since 1984, with the addition of a few earlier items of especial interest. Books currently in stock are not included, and it is therefore necessary to supplement your search by looking at our Current Catalogues. For the most part full bibliographical descriptions are given, though for some earlier items, catalogued when computing space was more restricted the details given are quite brief. For an account of the conventions adopted, the abbreviations used, and reference sources consulted, please see our information pages.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
MARMONTEL (M. [Jean-François]). Belisaire. Par M. Marmontel, De l'Académie Françoise. A Paris, Chez Merlin, Libraire, rue de la Harpe, A l'Image S. Joseph, 1767. Avec Approbation, & Privilége du Roi.Lge.cr.8vo; half-title present; copper engraved frontispiece and three plates by C. le Vasseur after H. Gravelot; [-], A-I, K-T, V-Xviii, Ziv; pp.[4 (half-title and title)]+x (Preface)+[ii]+340+[iii (Approbation / Privilege)]+[i (blank)]; two binder's blanks at front, one at back; lacking the blank leaf ([-]viii) which should follow the Préface; contemporary full calf gilt, brown burnished edges. Rebacked, with black label; corners of boards worn; some foxing and marking passim, more or less confined to margins; small neat early name stamp on upper margin of title-page and one other leaf.
First edition, first issue (the Approbation later being suppressed) and the earliest state of text (without the ‘Addition' leaf that was added later to some copies): copy on large and thick paper. The ‘Catalogue hebdomadaire' lists three issues for the 7th February 1767: one 12mo, without plates, at 2 livres, (which we refer to below as ‘A'); one 12mo, with plates, at 3 livres (which we refer to as ‘C'); and one 8vo, with plates, as here, at 5 livres (which we refer to as ‘B'). All three issues are set to the same measure, and the pagination is the same, but ‘A' was signed and gathered in sixes up to gathering ‘O', the final gathering, ‘P', being of four leaves, the first two of which bear respectively the signature marks P and Pii. It appears to have been printed first, the formes being then unlocked and re-imposed for printing as 8vo, the page signatures being appropriately altered at the same time, all but the last: the second leaf of the final signature, ‘Z', retaining, in the present copy at least, the original 12mo signature ‘Pii'. This provides a logical sequence, if not actual proof, that ‘A' was printed in advance of ‘B', and also shows that the type used was the same. It may be hypothesised that the plates were not ready by the time that ‘A' was printed (and perhaps, bound). Issues ‘A' and ‘B' share certain other peculiarities, not shared by ‘C', which suggest a closer relationship between them than with that: both for example have the full stop after ‘PRÉFACE' on p.[i] raised level with the mid-stroke of the ‘E', where in ‘C' it is correctly aligned. Likewise the type ornaments in ‘A' and ‘B' are the same, but those in ‘C' are sometimes different (the head-ornament on p.[i] for instance, or the tail ornament on p.20 or p.32) suggesting that though the type was kept standing, some at least of the type ornaments may have been plundered for use elsewhere before ‘C' came to be printed. Revisions and corrections, sometimes erroneous, were carried out between each of the three printings: the drop-head ‘BELISAIRE' on p.1 of ‘A', for instance, was corrected to ‘BÉLISAIRE' in ‘B', but restored to ‘BELISAIRE' in ‘C', presumably because that capital ‘E' had not been accented either in the title-page or running heads, though other capitalised acute ‘E's had been, as, for example, throughout, in ‘PRÉFACE'. The major differences in text, however, as far as a brief examination can determine, are not between ‘A' and ‘B', but between them and ‘C' (opening the volumes pretty well at random we find on p.viij, for example, ‘A' and ‘B' read ‘L'historien Procope' whilst ‘C' reads ‘L'Historien Procope'; on p.18 the antepenultimate line in ‘C' reads ‘savez' where the other two read ‘scavez'; on p.205 ‘change;' in the last line in ‘A' and ‘B' becomes ‘change,' in ‘C'). There is at least one difference in lineation also: though all three issues are set generally 24 lines to the page p.326 has an extra line in ‘A' and ‘B', but the correct number of lines in ‘C'. Other variants (pp.19 and 92, which are one line short, and pp.94, and 124, which have an extra line) are the same in all three printings. The present 8vo issue is not to be confused with the 240pp. 8vo edition, with a corrected text set to a larger measure, which was published later the same year. The text of Bélisaire ends on p.272, the remaining pages being occupied by a reprint of Marmontel's "Fragmens De Philosopie morale", this being supplied with a fly-title included in the pagination. There is no list of plates, but they are marked to face the start of chapters VI, VII, and XVI (pp.57, 69, and 255), and are here so bound in. Marmontel's views on toleration and freedom of opinion, as expressed in ‘Bélisaire' have earned it a place in eighteenth century philosophical thought as well as fiction.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
[MERCIER (Louis-Sébastien)]. Memoirs Of the year Two thousand Five hundred. Translated from the French By W. Hooper, M.D. In two volumes. London, Printed for G. Robinson, in Pater-noster-Row, 1772. 2 Vols., 12mo; half-titles not present, possibly not called for [v.note]; author's Advertisement leaf with seven entry Errata at foot and Contents to volume one on verso follows title-page in volume one; Contents leaf to volume two with five entry Errata on verso (evidently misbound) follows the Epistle Dedicatory in volume one; pp.[x (should be viii)]+224; [ii (should be iv)]+248; [ - ]2, a3 (ex 2!), B - I, K12, L4; [ - ]1 (ex 2), B - I, K - L12, M4; contemporary mottled calf, tooled gilt on sides, elaborately tooled gilt on spine, red lettering piece. green numbering piece, both also elaborately tooled gilt; burnished edges. Front cover to volume one neatly re-attached, other joints all a little cracking; signature ‘E. Calvert' on upper margin of each title-page, and old ownership stamp partly removed from inner margin, with consequent slight thinning to that of volume two; a very little scattered spotting or light foxing in text; small hole in lower margin of F3 in volume two, apparently due to a paper flaw; otherwise a nice copy.
From the library of Eric Quayle and bearing his brief initialled pencilled notes on the front end-paper of volume one. Published originally in French in 1771 under the title ‘L'An deux milles quatre cent quarante'. The translator's Advertisement says that the title is the only change that he has made to the original, but that he has added footnotes distinguished from those of the original by being in italics. Locke, ‘Spectrum', p.15: "Utopian novel of the France of the future; an early example of the ‘sleeper awakes' theme'; Clute and Nicholls, ‘Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, p.798: "a central 18th century text"; Bleiler, ‘Science Fiction: The Early Years, 1476, ‘Checklist', (1948), p.26, (1978), p.138; Clarke, ‘Tale of the Future', (1978), p.2; Lewis, ‘Utopian Literature', pp.120 - 2; Negley, ‘Utopian Literature: A Bibliography', 772; Versins, ‘Encyclopedie de l'utopie, des Voyages Extraordinaires et de la Science Fiction, p.582; Reginald, 10017. In this copy, probably as always, the date on the title-page to volume one, which is in Roman numerals, has the first ‘x' in too small a fount.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
[MOORE (Dr. John).]. Edward. Various views Of Human nature, Taken From Life and Manners, Chiefly in England. By the Author of Zeluco. In two volumes. London: Printed for A. Strahan, and T. Cadell jun. and W. Davies, (Successors to Mr. Cadell) in the Strand, 1796.2 Vols., lge.post 8vo; half-title present in each volume; twenty-two entry Errata to both volumes followed by 3pp. integral advertisements at the end of volume two; [A]2, B-I, K-U, X-II, KK8, LL4; [A]2, B-I, K-U, X-II, KK-PP8, QQ4; pp.[iv]+519+[i (blank)]; [iv]+596+[i]+[iii]; contemporary full sprinkled calf, elaborately ruled and tooled gilt on spine, red and black lettering pieces, edges of boards tooled gilt. Gilt slightly rubbed on spines; front joint in volume one cracked but firm; marginal staining of prelims. from the turnovers of the calf; one erratum neatly corrected in ink; otherwise a virtually fine copy.
CBEL, II, p.550; Block, p.165. In addition to the Errata noted, in this copy at l.16 on p.337 in volume one ‘re-' has dropped out at the end of the line.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
MORRIS (Ralph). A Narrative Of the Life and astonishing Adventures Of John Daniel, A Smith at Royston in Hertfordshire, For a Course of seventy Years. Containing, The melancholy Occasion of his Travels. His Shipwreck with one Companion on a de-Solate Island. Their way of Life. His acci-Dental discovery of a Woman for his Compa-Nion. Their peopling the Island. Also, A Description of a most surprising Engine, invented By his Son Jacob, on which he flew to the Moon, With some Account of its Inhabitants. His return, And accidental Fall into the Habitation of a Sea-Monster, with whom he lived two Years. His fur-Ther Excursions in Search of England. His Resi-Dence in Lapland, and Travels to Norway, from Whence he arrived at Aldborough, and further Transactions till his death, in 1711. Aged 97. Illustrated with several Copper Plates. Engraved by Mr. Boitard. Taken from his own Mouth, By Mr. Ralph Morris. London: Printed for M. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-Noster-Row. 1751.F'cap 12mo; half-title not called for; four copper-plates; pp.[xvi]+319+[i (blank)]; A8, B - I, K - O12, P4; pp.[xvi]+319+[i (blank)]; Victorian half-calf, marbled boards, black lettering piece ruled and tooled gilt. Covers rubbbed and worn, text rather marked and grubby; a couple of small marginal tears; last two leaves chipped at upper fore-corner with loss of part of page numbers and, in all, seventeen letters of text; lacking the plates, but with ink and wash drawings of flying contraptions on binder's blank at front and back of rear end-paper. As a reading copy.
Extremely scarce. Not in Rothschild, Block, or Summers; Locke, ‘Spectrum' p.16, recording only a 1926 reprint, and giving no details of the original beyond the date; CBEL, II, p.544, recording one further eighteenth century edition, and two nineteenth century ones in addition to that listed by Locke. "An eighteenth century pioneer of the genre." - Locke.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
[PALTOCK (Robert).]. The Life and Adventures Of Peter Wilkins, A Cornish Man: Relating particularly, His Shipwreck near the South Pole; his wonder-Ful Passage thro' a subterraneous Cavern into a kind Of new World; his there meeting with a Gawry or Flying [Or flying] Woman, whose Life he preserv'd, and after-Wards [Afterwards] married her; his extraordinary Conveyance To [Con-Veyance to] the Country of Glums and Gawrys, or Men and Women that fly. Likewise a Description of [Of] this Strange [strange] Country, with the Laws, Customs, and [And] Manners of its Inhabitants, and the Author's re-Markable [Remarkable] Transactions among them. Taken from his own Mouth, in his Passage to England [Eng-Land], From off Cape Horn in America, in the Ship Hector. With an Introduction, giving an Account of the Surprizing [The surprizing] Manner of his coming on board that [That] Vessel, and his Death on his landing at Plymouth In [Ply-Mouth in] the Year 1739. Illustrated with several Cuts, clearly and distinctly re-Presenting [Representing] the Structure and Mechanism of the Wings of the Glums and Gawrys, and the Manner In which they use them either to swim or fly. By R.S., a Passenger in the Hector. In Two Volumes. Vol. I [No statement of number of volumes: Vol. II]. London: Printed for J. Robinson, at the Golden Lion in Lud-Gate-street [Ludgate-street]; and R. Dodsley, at Tully's Head, in [In] Pall Mall, 1751 [i.e., November, 1750].2 Vols., 12mo; half-titles not called for; volume two with one wood-engraved illustration in text, six copper engraved plates by Boitard (one large folding) following text, and five pages of integral advertisements at end; A12, a2, B-I, K-N12; A6, B-I, K-N12, O6; pp.[xxviii]+287+[i (blank)]; [xii]+295+[v]; contemporary full sprinkled calf, ruled gilt on sides, spine with five raised bands, ruled and tooled gilt on bands and in compartments, red labels, edges of boards tooled blind. Calf somewhat rubbed on spines, and a trifle chipped over joints, but sound; back end-paper lacking in volume two; one gathering lightly embrowned, and two or three leaves with slight foxing; caption of one plate slightly shaved; piece chipped from blank upper corner of two leaves in volume one, and small chip to blank fore-margin of title leaf in volume two; slight marginal staining to first and last leaves in each volume from the turnover of the calf; otherwise, and in general, a very nice copy.
Described by the Monthly Review in 1750 as "the illegitimate offspring of no very natural conjunction between ‘Gulliver's Travels' and ‘Robinson Crusoe'". A Utopian romance the hero of which was apparently named after the seventeenth century Bishop John Wilkins who had written on the art of flying whilst the heroine Youwarkee is said to have been modelled on Elizabeth Countess of Northumberland the dedicatee. The book was published anonymously but Paltock's authorship was an open secret among his contemporaries and the original contract preserved amongst Dodsley's papers has confirmed it. Lamb who writes of ‘Peter Wilkins' in ‘Christ's Hospital Five and Thirty Years Ago' Coleridge Shelley Southey and Leigh Hunt all display some indebtedness to this pre-Romantic adventure. CBEL II p.544 records "at least 4 other editions before 1800; at least 16 since" whilst the book had a long enough life in fact to have been selected for inclusion in the ‘Everyman's Library' series in 1915. CBEL II p.544; Gove pp.320-327; Block p.178; Locke ‘Spectrum' Volume II p.11 noting no issue variants; not in Rothschild or Tinker. In this copy pp.231/2 and 236/7 in volume one are misnumbered 131/2 and 136/7; D6 in the same volume is signed D5 and K4 bears no signature mark; the sixth leaf of each gathering in volume one bears a signature mark but in volume two these leaves are left unsigned.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
PRATT (Mr. [Samuel J.]). Family Secrets, Literary and Domestic. By Mr. Pratt. In Five volumes. London: Printed for T.N. Longman, Paternoster-row, 1797.5 Vols., 12mo; half-title in volumes one, four, and five, none called for in two and three; final blank in volume one; dedication and Contents leaves present in each volume; Errata present in volumes one, three, four, five; contemporary calf, spines gilt, red labels. One joint weak, two gatherings slightly starting; contemporary ownership inscription on upper margin of each title-page; otherwise a nice copy.
First edition not in BLC; not in Tinker or Rothschild; Block, p.189, citing a bookseller's copy only.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
PRATT (Mr. [Samuel J.]). Family Secrets, By Mr. Pratt. In Five volumes. Second edition, carefully revised. London: Printed for T.N. Longman, Paternoster Row, 1798.5 Vols., 12mo; half-title not present in volumes one, two, and five, none apparently called for in volumes three and four; final blank in volume one; leaf U[2] in volume four a cancel tipped-on to a stub, this followed by a further stub, leaf U12, like U1 at end of volume three, being a singleton; 4pp. integral advertisements at end of volume five; dedication and Contents leaves present in each volume; a3, A2, B-I, K-T12, U4; a5, B-I, K-S12, T6; a4, B-I, K-T12, U1; a4, U11, X-Z, Aa12, Bb10, B-I, K-N12, O2; a5, B-I, K-T12; pp.[iv]+ii+iv+439+[iii]; [x]+420; [viii]+434; [iv]+[iv (unpaged)]+[435]-574+[1]-292; [vi (unpaged)]+[v]-viii+428+[iv]; contemporary half natural calf, spines ruled gilt, dark brown label, drab boards. Some joints cracked or cracking; lacking the front board to volume five; marginal chip to author's Advertisement leaf and blank in volume one, without loss of text, and small hole in U11 of volume four, touching one letter, all evidently due to an original paper fault; text otherwise fine.
First published in the preceding year as ‘Family Secrets, Literary and Domestic', the present edition has been very extensively revised in the light of criticism - by which the author appears to have been stung. Leaf a4v of volume four bears the instruction to the binder: ‘Vol. IV. to begin with p.435 of Vol. III', and the cancellation leaf following, signed ‘U' (but in fact ‘U2', leaf ‘U1' being the last leaf of the preceding volume) is signed ‘Vol. IV', though subsequent gatherings to the end of the volume III page sequence are signed ‘Vol. III'. This title not in Rothschild or Tinker; Block, p.189, recording the first edition only; Summers, pp.125 and 316, recording the first edition, this edition, and a three volume Irish edition of 1800, but without noting the revisions or the dropping of the sub-title.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
RABELAIS (F.). The Works Of F. Rabelais, M.D. Or, The Lives, heroic Deeds And Sayings of Gargantua And Pantagruel. Done out of French by Sir Tho. Urchard, Kt. And others. With a large Account of the Life and Works Of the Author, particularly an Explanation Of the most difficult Passages in them. Never before Publish'd in any Language. London, Printed for Richard Baldwin, near the Oxford Arms in Warwick-Lane, 1694. TOGETHER WITH: The Second Book of the Works Of Mr. Francis Rabelais, Doctor in Physick: Treating of the Heroic Deeds And Sayings of the Good Pantagruel. Written Originally in the French Tongue, And now faithfully Translated into English. By S.T.U.C. London, Printed for Richard Baldwin, near the Oxford-Arms [sic] in Warwick-Lane, 1694.2 Vols., 12mo, bound in one, probably as issued; half-titles not called for, but lacking the engraved portrait to volume one; key to characters and Errata, commendatory verses, index of characters, Author's Prologue to the First Book, and page headed To the Reader follow Preface, all unpaged; A4, a-g12, h8, B-I, K, L12; Aa-Hh12, Ii8; pp.[8 (unpaged)]+clvi+[xxxviii]+230; viii+9-208; contemporary full sprinkled calf, ruled and tooled blind on sides, spine with four raised bands, ruled gilt, unlettered. Joints cracked but firm, chip in blank lower margin of b11, g4, and E7, small hole in blank fore-margin of E8, and short tear in blank fore-margin of C5, all due to paper faults; blank lower fore-corner of Ff6 chipped; long tear in inner margin of E11, not touching text, due apparently to a paper fault; tear in E12 repaired without loss; the text otherwise excellent.
The original French edition of Pantagruel was published at Lyons c.1532 and that of Gargantua c.1535. The present edition is the second edition of the first English translation, made by Sir Thomas Urquhart (here called Urchard), the first book being published originally in 1653, and the second in 1664. The considerable fore-matter, consisting of an Epistle Dedicatory, The Life of Dr. Francis Rabelais, a section of critical opinions, a lengthy critical Preface, key, list of personages, and commendatory poem all by Peter Motteux, translator of the first English edition of the third book, issued by Baldwin the preceding year, and commendatory poems by N[ahum] Tate, William Pittis, Alex. Oldis (or Oldys), and J[?ames] Drake, is all here first published. The present edition was evidently called for by the success of Motteux's translation of the third book, as were the two further books published by Baldwin in a translation by Motteux, also in 1694. No complete edition as such appeared in English until 1708 (which was an extension of this, with the addition of Motteux's third, fourth, and fifth books). In this copy pp.lvii and cxvii in volume one are misnumbered lvi and cxvi respectively, apparently as always. Cunningham, Proceedings of the Oxford Bibliographical Society, 1933, III, p.317; CBEL, I, p.836 & II, p.795; Wing R104 & R109.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
RADCLIFFE (Ann). The Mysteries of Udolpho, A Romance; Interspersed with some pieces of poetry. By Ann Radcliffe Author of The Romance of the Forest, etc. In four volumes. London: Printed for G.G. and J. Robinson, Paternoster-row, 1794.12mo; integral blank at end in volume two (laid on to binder's blank, as is the final leaf of volume three, the verso of which is blank: a device of the original binder); binder's blank precedes half-title in each volume; [ ]2, B-I, K-S12, T10; [ ]2, B-I, K-U, X12; [ ]2, B-I, K-U12, X4; [ ]2, B-I, K-S12, T8, U2; pp.[iv]+428; [iv]+478+[ii]; [iv]+463+[i (blank)]; [iv]+428; (?)publisher's full natural calf, red labels. Slight general wear to calf, two insignificant chips at extremities of spines, and one spine with insignificant vertical crack; short tear in one leaf in volume one repaired without loss, and one leaf with small marginal chip in fore-margin; one leaf in volume two neatly repaired without loss; blank corner chipped from one leaf in volume three; one blank corner chipped in volume four, and piece chipped from fore-margin of one leaf with loss of part of one letter; otherwise, and in general, a nice copy.
Rothschild, 1701, giving a collation which omits the final blank of volume two; Tinker, 1700, collating as this; Block, p.193; Sawyer & Darton, i, p.312. In the present copy p.288 in volume three lacks the parenthesis before the page number (this not being noted by Rothschild or Tinker), and, as noted by Tinker, K4 is mis-signed K5.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
REEVE (Clara). The old English baron: A Gothic story. London: Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly In the Poultry, 1778.Sm.post 8vo; half-title not called for; frontispiece engraved on copper by J. Caldnall after W. Hamilton; [A]4, B-I, K-P8, Q4; pp.viii+232; contemporary full natural calf, red spine label, spine elaborately ruled and tooled gilt, edges of boards tooled gilt, edges burnished brown. Two small scuff marks on front cover; otherwise a fine copy, handsomely bound.
First edition of this text first edition under this title and first trade edition: preceded by a small privately printed edition issued anonymously in Colchester under the title ‘The Champion of Virtue' in 1777. CBEL II p.548 recording twenty-one editions by 1900; Block p.195; Summers p.449; surprisingly not in Rothschild. Together with ‘The Castle of Otranto' (with which it has frequently been reprinted) the seminal novel of the Gothic school. In her interesting six-page Preface here first published Clara Reeve presents a criticism of ‘The Castle of Otranto' of which "this story is the literary offspring . . . written upon the same plan with a design to unite the most attractive and interesting circumstances of the ancient Romance and modern Novel at the same time as it assumes a character and manner of its own . . . To attain this end there is required a sufficient degree of the marvellous to excite the attention; enough of the manners of real life to give an air of probability to the work; and enough of the pathetic to engage the heart in its behalf. The book we have mentioned is excellent in the last two points but has a redundancy in the first; the opening excites the attention very strongly; the conduct of the story is artful and judicious; the characters are admirably drawn and supported; the diction polished and elegant; yet with all these brilliant advantages it palls upon the mind (though it does not upon the ear); and the reason is obvious the machinery is so violent that it destroys the effect it is intended to excite. Had the story been kept within the utmost verge of probability the effect had been preserved without losing the least circumstance that excites or detains the attention. For instance; we can conceive and allow of the appearance of a ghost; we can even dispense with an enchanted sword and helmet; but . . . : A sword so large as to require an hundred men to lift it . . . a picture that walks out of its frame . . . When your expectation is wound up to the highest pitch these circumstances take it down with a witness destroy the work of imagination and instead of attention excite laughter. I was both surprised and vexed to find the enchantment dissolved which I wished might continue to the end and several of its readers have confessed the same disappointment to me. . . . it seemed to me that it was possible to compose a work . . . wherein these defects might be avoided". This Preface makes clear the author's wider purpose: not merely to write a novel but to lay down and to demonstrate the ground rules which might establish the Gothic Novel as a workable genre - and this she most resoundingly achieved. ‘The Castle of Otranto' was published in 1765; this second novel of the genre in 1778; the 640pp. of Montague Summers' ‘Gothic Bibliography' bear ample witness to the flood that followed!
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
[RICHARDSON (Samuel).]. The History Of Sir Charles Grandison. In a Series of Letters Published from the Originals, By the Editor of Pamela and Clarissa. In Six Volumes. [So volumes one to five; final volume: Vol. VI. and Last. To which is added, An Historical and Characteristical Index. As also A Brief History, authenticated by Original Letters, of The Treatment which the Editor has met with from Certain Booksellers and Printers in Dublin. Including Observations on Mr. Faulkner's Defence of Him- Self, published in his Irish News-paper of Nov. 3. 1753. The Second Edition] Vol. I [II; III; IV; V]. London: Printed for S. Richardson; And Sold by C. Hitch and L. Hawes, in Pater-noster Row; By J. and J. Rivington, in St. Paul's Church-Yard; By Andrew Millar, in the Strand; By R. and J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall; And by [Vol.VI: By] J. Leake, at Bath; [So volumes I and IV; Vols.II, III, and V have full stop; Vol.VI: And By R. Main, in Dublin.] 1754 [i.e., 1753-4].6 Vols., extra cr.8vo; half-titles not called for; erratum to volume four at foot of last leaf of text in volume five; eight entry Errata to all volumes at foot of U6 in volume six; [ ]1, A3, B-I, K-U, X-Dd8, [ ]1; [A]1, B-I, K-U, X-Dd8; [A]1, B-I, K-U, X-Bb8, Cc1; [A]1, B-I, K-U, X-Cc8, [ ]1; [A]1, B-I, K-U, X-Bb8, Cc3, Dd1; [A]1, B-I, K-U, X-Ee8, Ff1; pp.[viii]+417+[i (blank)]; [ii]+416; [ii]+386; [ii]+401+[i (blank)]; [ii]+394; [ii]+433+[i (blank)]; contemporary full natural calf, spine with five raised bands, ruled and numbered gilt, black lettering-piece. Re-backed in Edwardian times and the end-papers renewed, the new leather of poor quality and now very much decayed, all boards detached, one lacking; E6 and 7, G8, N2, Y5, 6, and 8, Z1, and Aa8 in volume one, O2, Q3, S1, and Cc3 in volume two, O4 and P2 in volume three, N3 in volume four, H5, I3, S4, T6, Y4, and Dd1 in volume four, H1, K7, and 8 in volume six with short marginal tears not approaching text; longer tears in N5 of volume two (due to an original paper fault) and Z2 and 7 of volume four repaired almost invisibly, without tissue; piece torn from fore-margin of K8 in volume one barely touching one letter of text, and from lower fore-corner of Dd4 with loss of five letters of text on recto and about sixteen on verso, leaving about three words on the latter guessable but uncertain; blank corner torn from R7 in volume two, and P7 in volume five; small hole in blank lower margin of Bb1 due to an original paper flaw; Aa7 and 8, and Bb1 and 2 restored at inner margins without loss leaving old glue-stains visible on inner margins of Aa8 and Bb1; some minor dusting and spotting here and there, but apart from the faults mentioned, the text in general nice. As a binding copy.
First edition, 8vo format, first issue: one of only about 500 copies thus. In the second issue the half-title to volume one was replaced by a prefatory poem by T[homas] E[dwards] and the words Second Edition and the name of the Dublin publisher, Main, was added to the title-page. The 12mo edition in seven volumes and the present 8vo edition in six volumes were issued simultaneously, but the 12mo edition was printed first, and so many changes were made for the 8vo edition that volume six was denominated ‘Second Edition'. A far more readable book in this format, and exhibiting a better text - though a good deal less common: according to Sale, p.67, only one thousand sets of the 8vo edition were printed, divided more or less equally between two issues, as against 3,000 sets of the 12mo edition. Leaf E4 in volume six is in this copy signed E4, as usual: in some copies it is signed just ‘E'. In addition to the Errata listed, in volume three leaves L2, O3, and Bb4 are unsigned, the catch-word on p.43 reads ‘same' for ‘some', and catch-words are lacking on pp.74, 92, 111, 126, 182, 280, and 375; on p.393 in volume four the second three of the page number is upside down; in volume five pp.106 and 366 are numbered respectively ‘06' and ‘66', and catch-words are lacking on pp.108, 174, 205, 316, and 322; in volume six the catch-word reads ‘Similies' instead of ‘Similes', whilst catch-words are lacking on pp.78, 136, 148, and 182: in all cases apparently as always. Sale, 40; CBEL, II, p.515, not distinguishing editions; Block, p.198, Sawyer & Darton I, p.281, and Rothschild, 1752, all recording only the 12mo edition.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
ROUSSEAU (J.J.). Émile, Ou De l'education, Par J.J. Rousseau. Tome premier [second; troisieme [sic]; quatrieme [sic]]. [No publisher, no printer,] Londres. [N.D.] c.1785. 4 Vols., pott 8vo format; half-title in each volume; one copper-engraved plate after C.P. Marillier in volume four; [-]2, A - I, K - N8, O5, P7; [-]2, A -I, K8, L5, M4; [-]2, A - I, K - Q8, R1, S7; [-]2, A - I, K - M8, N5, O2; pp.[iv]+232; [iv]+177+[i (blank)]; [iv]+272; [iv]+205+[i (blank)]; Victorian half red calf, ruled, tooled, and lettered gilt on spine, black and yellow marbled boards; marbled edges and end-papers; green silk markers. Some fingering and a few marginal stains in text, chiefly evident on the early leaves of volume one; otherwise a generally nice copy.
Besides Émile, includes the ‘Supplement' published after Rousseau's death. The text of these volumes is identical to that of the copy recorded in BLC with the shelf-mark C106B19. The BL copy however has in volume one a frontispiece and plates marked in the plate to face pp.46 and 106; in volume two plates marked to face pp.18 and 135; in volume three plates marked to face pp.29, 161, and 256; and in volume four a plate marked to face p.59, all the plates bearing above the design the words ‘Tom. [no.] Emile [sic] Page [no.]' and below it, between the names of the artist at the left hand corner and the engraver at the right hand corner, the letters ‘A.P.D.R.'. The present copy has only one plate, bound in to face p.59 in volume four, and though the design is the same as with the corresponding plate of the BL copy, it is evidently of an earlier issue, the word ‘Emile' appearing by itself above the design, and the names of the artist and engraver only beneath it. It must be a matter of speculation whether plates are lacking from this copy or whether the text was issued before all but an early state of the one plate had been prepared. The imprint is false: BLC hypothesises Paris.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
SCROPE (Miss [Elizabeth].). Miss Scrope's Answer To Mr. Cresswell's Narrative. London: Printed for R. Baldwin, jun. in Pater-Noster-Row, 1749.Lge.post 8vo in half sheets; half-title present; nine entry Errata on verso of title leaf; [A]2, B-I, K-U, X-Gg4; pp.[iv]+232; recent quarter calf, light green boards, spine ruled blind, with lettering-piece; sprinkled burnished edges. Uniform light embrowning, but a virtually fine copy.
Number 843 of an unspecified limited edition: numbered and signed by the author at end of text. A book that stands somewhat uneasily maybe at the cross-roads, the exact meeting-point, of fiction with fact and throws much useful light on the more apparently melodramatic and improbable fiction of its day. An absorbing, though almost unbelievable, story told as a first person narration, with direct and reported speech, lapsing at times into the epistolary form: one would unhesitatingly describe it as fiction were it not for the fact that there exists also Thomas Estcourt Cresswell's "A Narrative of the Affair between Mr. Cresswell and Miss Sc--e" published by Charles Green in 1747, this being in turn a reply to letters relating to the affair from Miss Scrope's brother Frederick and others, published in the ‘General Evening-Post' - a correspndence which widened later into other newspapers. In the book Miss Scrope, whose family had titled connections and was a minor heiress, tells of her secret courtship by her impecunious cousin Cresswell, made over many years against the opposition of her wealthy grandmother who wanted him to marry a major heiress, her going through first a secret private marriage ceremony with him (after which she was persuaded to make out a will in his favour, an act which, by her account, nearly resulted in her murder!) and then what appears to have been an unregistered or mock marriage, which she was persuaded to keep secret even when she thought herself to be pregnant. She was later persuaded to stand by whilst Cresswell, whom she believed to be her husband, first courted and then married a neighbouring major heiress.... And so the improbable chain of events goes on - not least of which it the eventual public debate! The story as told is a little dislocated in places, since it assumes familiarity with Cresswell's ‘Narrative', but is evidently written by one who was an avid novel reader and cast her account quite naturally in that mode. Miss Scrope's decorous limited edition is a good deal scarcer than the ‘Narrative' to which it is a reply.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
SMITH (Mrs. Charlotte, née Turner). Desmond. A Novel, In three volumes. London: Printed for G.G.J. and J. Robinson, Pater-noster-row, 1792 [i.e., 1791].3 Vols., 12mo, bound up together without the half-titles, title-page to volume three, and the two leaves integral advertisements at end; Errata to all three volumes follows Preface in volume one (containing thirty, nine, and three entries respectively); early nineteenth century half natural calf, marbled sides, matching marbled edges and end-papers, tooled blind on sides, spine with four raised bands, ruled and elaborately tooled gilt, dark brown lettering piece. Calf just a trifle rubbed and worn at head and tail of joints and on corners; small, neat, contemporary signature at extreme head of each title-page (and slightly cropped in volume one); some scattered light staining and dusting; blank lower fore-corner torn from leaf H5 in volume two; otherwise a nice copy.
One of the better-known novels, by a prolific author. Cast in epistolary form, and favouring the spirit of the French Revolution. The Preface, on the same half-sheet as the Errata, was evidently the last part of the book to be printed (apart possibly from the inserted quarter sheet H* in volume three), and is dated ‘June 20, 1791', which suggests that the book was almost certainly issued in the second half of that year and dated ahead. CBEL, II, p.550; Black, 736; Block, p.220; Hardy, 257; Summers, p.185; Baker (1932) p.440. In this copy there is risen furniture after the last line of text on K1v in volume one; B6 in volume three is signed B5; N11r has the catch-word ‘Dasmond' for ‘Desmond', probably as always.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
[SMOLLETT (Tobias George, M.D.).]. The Adventures Of Gil blas Of Santillane [by Alain René le Sage]. A new translation, from The best French Edition. Adorned with Thirty-three CUTS, neatly Engraved. In Four Volumes. London: Printed for J. Osborn, at the Golden Ball In Pater-noster-Row, 1749.4 Vols., Royal 32mo in sixes; half-titles not called for; blank precedes frontispiece in volume one; final blank in volume four; volume one with copper engraved frontispiece and eight plates, the other volumes with with frontispiece and seven plates; A-I, K-U, X-Z6; [A]2, B-I, K-T6, U2; A-B4, C-I, K-U, X6, Y4; [A]4, B2, C-I, K-U, X6; pp.viii+iii-vi (i-iv un-paged, then paged iii-iv, vii-viii, iii-vi)+263+[i (blank)]; iv+220; [viii]+244; [viii]+230+[ii]; contemporary full sheep, ruled gilt on sides and spine, tooled blind on edges, spine with four raised bands and label. Leather a little rubbed, and some joints cracked but sound; light foxing and dusting passim; a few leaves at end of volume four stained, with loss of about twenty scattered letters at one opening, but no loss of sense; insignificant neat ink annotations on margins of pp.119 and 209 of volume four; otherwise a nice copy.
The first edition of this translation, and first complete edition in English, of a work published originally in French in 1715 (Vols.I and II), 1724 (Vol.III) and 1735 (Vol.IV). Apparently quite scarce. Earlier English translations had appeared in 1716 (2 Vols.), 1725 (3 Vols.), and 1735 (vol.IV alone). CBEL, II, p.47. Block, p.137 and Tinker, 1926, record only the second edition of 1750: that from the same publisher, but an entirely different setting of the text, and avowedly ‘By the Author of Roderick Random'; not in Rothschild. There is no list of illustrations, but those in volume one are marked for pp.20, 40, 78, 98, 118, 171, 198, and 218; those in volume two pp.64, 92, 100, 115, 127, 155, and 198; in volume three pp.14, 36, 74, 94, 121, 196, and 205; and in volume four pp.12, 23, 45, 58, 123, 218, and 229: all being bound in as marked. In this copy on p.75 in volume two the word ‘who' appears at the end of line twenty-eight instead of twenty-seven; in volume four, p.157 is mis-numbered ‘147', and line 5 on p.210 has the reading ‘conjecture' for ‘conjuncture'.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
SMOLLETT (T[obias George]., M.D.). The History and adventures Of the renowned Don Quixote. Translated from the Spanish of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. To which is prefixed, Some Account of the Author's Life. By T. Smollett, M.D. Illustrated with Twenty-eight new Copper-Plates, designed by Hayman, And engraved by the best Artists. In two volumes. Vol.I [II]. Printed for A. Millar, over against Catherine-Street, in the Strand; T. Osborn, T. and T. Longman, C. Hitch and L. Hawes, J. Hodges, And J. and J. Rivington, 1755.2 Vols., demy 4to; half-titles not called for; errata leaf at end of volume two; engraved frontispiece, and thirteen plates in volume one, fourteen plates in volume two; [A], a-c, B-I, K-U, X-Ii, Kk-Uu, Xx-Eee4, Fff2; A-I, K-U, X-Ii, Kk-Uu, Xx-Iii, Kkk Nnn4, Ooo2; contemporary full sprinkled calf ruled gilt on sides, spine with raised bands, red and black labels, gilt extra. Leather chipped at head and tail of spines and extremities of joints; joints cracked, but the boards firm on the cords; a very little light foxing of a few leaves; insignificant worming of extreme lower corner of end-papers and early leaves in volume two, chiefly visible on end-papers; end-papers a little dusty; otherwise a very nice large copy.
Rothschild, 1915 and 1916. One of the scarcer Smollett titles. There is no list of plates, but they are bound in to face pp.17, 26, 75, 92, 106, 110 (111 in Rothschild copies, and so marked), 126, 159, 196, 211, 270, 281, and 352; 55 (54 in Rothschild copies, and so marked), 80, 127, 163, 186, 189, 194, 284, 296, 305, 311, 400, 449, and 458.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
[SOREL (Charles).]. The Comical History Of Francion. Satyrically Exposing Folly And Vice, in Variety [sic] of Humours and Adventures. VVritten in French by the Sieur de Parc, And Translated by several Hands, and Adapted to the Humour of the present Age. Qiucquid agunt Homines, Votum, Timor, Ira, Voluptas, Gaudia, Discursus, nostri est Farrago Libelli. [Juven. London, Printed for R. Wellington at the Dolphin and Crown At the West-End of St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1703.Cr.8vo, 3 Vols. bound in one, as issued; half-title not called for; title-leaf a cancel, mounted on a stub; Errata, twentyseven lines (excluding headings), on verso of last leaf of Preface; 6pp. integral advertisements at end; [ ]1, Aa3, B-I, K-O8, P4, Q2; Aa-Gg8, Hh4, Ii-Pp8, Qq4; Aaa-Iii8, paged [viii]+1-16, 21-4, 17-20, 29-32, 25-28, 33-219 (paged 119)+[i (blank)]; 1-89, 100-130, 121, 126-127, 124-125, 130-131, 128-129, 134-135, 132-133, 138-139, 136-189, 200-250; 1-138+[vi]; original panelled calf, tooled blind on sides, sympathetically rebacked with matching calf, spine with five raised bands, ruled gilt, red label; sprinkled edges. End-papers a little dusty; two or three unobtrusive pen trials on margins of Ffv and Ff2r; otherwise a fine copy.
First edition of this translation, second title page, probable early state of text. A wholly different, and far more florid, translation, by a single hand, appeared in 1655. According to the translator's Preface in the present edition, which is signed ‘W.A.', of the twelve Books making up the work, "The 7th, 8th, 9th, Bookes, and part of the 10th, were done by a young Gentleman, who was Perswaded to Undertake 'em, but desires not to appear in it", the rest by himself. The force of the words "Adapted to the Humour of the present Age" on the title-page is described as involving a paring "of some of those Excrescenses in the Diction, which are more Natural to the Gayity of the French, than Acceptable to us English; and this, 'tis hoped, will not be objected against, by such as shall do us the Honour to compare 'em together. To make it more conformable to the Intent of the Author, we have ventur'd to Expatiate upon the Morals, and Apothegems; nay we have ventured to insert some of our own Growth; Some Stories that have been long the Table-talk of this Age, were judg'd too Familiarly known, not but I might have said vulgar, therefore we have put Others in their stead; which have an equal measure of Salt and Mythology, with the additional Beauty of being more New. The whole is intended for a continued Series, of the Errors and Extravagances of unbridled Youth; as well of one Sex, as the other". The custom of inserting new material into this work was an old one, as is made clear in the translator's critical introduction to the 1655 translation, the novel having been first published in French in seven books in 1622, and then expanded - both before and after the author's death. It was still in print in France well into the twentieth century. For ‘comical' in the title, understand ‘farcical'. This edition not noted by CBEL; Esdaille, p.307, listing a copy catalogued by the British Library under ‘Moulinet'. The preliminary gathering is signed only on the second leaf: we suspect the signature mark ‘Aa' to be a misprint for ‘A2', in which case the first gathering should be ‘A4'. The cancellation of the title leaf appears to be on account of two errors in the Latin epigraph (‘Voluptem' for ‘Voluptas' and ‘nostres' for ‘nostri') present in the integral title of the British library copy - the title leaves being otherwise the same. Gathering ‘Ii' in the present copy is here signed variously as ‘Ii' or ‘Kk', the gathering which follows being properly signed ‘Kk', this and the dislocations in the pagination also occurring in the British Library copy. P.29 in volume two is here unpaged, however; in the British library copy it is not; in volume one, the page number to p.28 is here correctly aligned, as is that to p.250 in volume two (though the second line of type is defective, lacking most of the first word, ‘more'); in the British Library copy the ‘8' and the ‘2' respectively have dropped, suggesting that the formes have been unlocked, presumably, in the latter instance, in order to replace the damaged type. Despite the oddities of the pagination and the signatures, the text is both complete and correctly ordered. The verso of the title leaf in this copy bears the small early engraved armorial bookplate of ‘The Right Honble. Robert Lord Viscount Tamworth, Grandson & heir apparent to ye Earl Ferrars'.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE, File B: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Fiction. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
[STERNE (The Rev. Laurence)]. The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Vol.I [II; III; IV; V; VI; VII; VIII; IX]. The Second Edition [so vols.I, II, and III only]. London: Printed for R. and J. Dodsley in Pall-Mall [so vols. I-IV; vols. V, VI, & IX read: Printed for T. Becket and P.A. Dehondt, In the Strand; vols. VII & VIII read: Printed for T. Becket and P.A. Dehont, [sic] in the Strand], M.DCC.LX [M.DCC.LX; M.DCC.LXI; M.DCC.LXI; M DCC LXII; MDCCCLXII [sic]; M DCC LXV; M DCC LXV; MDCCLXVII [sic].9 Vols. bound in six, 1760-1767, for the most part apparently as issued, pott 8vo; half-titles present in volumes four, five, six, and nine, not called for in other volumes; initial and final blank present in volume five; integral copper engraved frontispiece, by S. Ravenet and J. Ryland respectively, after W. Hogarth, present in volumes one and three (being illustrations to volumes two and four, the latter here without designation); leaf A8 in volume three is a cancel tipped onto the stub of the frontispiece; inserted leaf bearing page numbers, with marbled panel on each side in red, yellow, and grey-green, correctly present between L4 and L5 in same volume; signed by the author at the head of text in volumes five, seven, and nine, as called for; [ ]4, A-I, K-L8, M2; A-I, K-L8, M4; A-I, K-M8, N4; [A]2, B-I, K-O8, P2; [A]4, B-I, K8, L4; [A]2, B-I, K8, L6; [A]1, B-I, K, L8; [A]1, B-I, K8, L6; a4 (so signed on the second leaf), B-I, K8, [ ]1; pp.[viii (including frontispiece)]+179+[i (blank)]; [ii]+182; 202; [iv]+146+156-220+[i (blank)]; [viii]+150+[ii]; [iv]+155+[i (blank)]; [ii]+160; [ii]+156; [viii]+145+[i (blank)]; volumes one and two contemporary full calf, spine of volume one with five, that of volume two with four, raised bands, ruled gilt on sides and spine, spine numbered gilt with hand-written paper label; volumes three to eight bound up in pairs as issued in contemporary quarter calf, pigskin sides, spine with four raised bands, numbered gilt, red lettering-piece, brown burnished edges; volume nine contemporary full Russia, spine with five raised bands, lettering piece and numbering-piece. Lacking label to volumes two and nine, corners to volume nine worn and leather rubbed at edges, joints cracked but firm in volumes one, two, and nine, calf a little rubbed and two joints cracking but firm in other volumes; curious armorial bookplate in each of the double volumes (crest a fox passant above a shield containing a chevron and three fox-masks, scroll with motto ‘Prodesse quam conspici') early owner's signature at head of title-page in volume nine; text of volume nine lightly embrowned throughout; otherwise a nice set.
Signed by the author at the head of the first page of text in volumes five, seven, and nine, as usual - a device he adopted to discourage piracies. A made up set, volumes one, two, and nine having been added from another copy and not quite uniform in size, but very interesting nonetheless, volumes three to eight being bound up together in pairs apparently as issued. Volumes three to six are a quarter of an inch taller than the maximum size given by Cross, and volumes seven and eight three sixteenths of an inch: all of them measuring six and three-sixteenths by three and three-quarters inches. According to Cross, p.600, the first edition of volumes one and two were published by John Hinxman in York just before Christmas 1759, and by the Dodsleys in London on 1st January 1760, in an edition bearing no publisher's or printer's name and which is said to have consisted of about two hundred copies (Cross, p.194). The second (first London) edition of these volumes was published on 3rd April, and was the first to contain Hogarth's plate (marked above the plate ‘Frontispiece Vol.1' and below the plate, centrally between the names of artist and engraver, ‘Vol.2.page 128'). The Preface was also added in the London edition, which is "in paper, type, and pagination (except for preliminary pages of Vol.I) nearly identical with the first edition" (Cross, p.600). Volumes three and four were first published on January 28th, 1761, with a frontispiece to volume three, again by Ravenet after Hogarth, and again illustrating a scene in the volume following, this being marked as before below the plate (Cross, p.601). In a note on p.602 Cross records the existence of a single known copy of the first edition, in the possession of the late Beverly Chew, with a frontispiece as in the present volume three, not by Ravenet but by J. Ryland. He gives no details as to whether it is designated as frontispiece to volume three or lists a page number for the illustration in volume four between the words "W. Hogarth inv. & del." and "J. Ryland sculp.", but the present example has in fact neither. The cancel leaf A8 in the present volume three appears to be unrecorded: it might be arguable that the frontispiece [A]1 is the cancel and not A8, but the frontispiece certainly provides the bound-in stub and Cross does not mention a cancel in the Chew copy. Cross had never come across a copy of the Second Edition of volume three the existence of which he suggests merely from an advertisement in the London Chronicle, May 19-20, 1761 ("Probably a Second Edition, May 21, 1761" - p.602). Volume five, published together with volume six on 21st December, 1761, has the rare preliminary blank present, as in the Ashley Library copy (the only one of the preliminary blanks regarded as genuine by Rothschild, though the Rothschild copy was without it), but has also a final blank which is here certainly integral, and appears to be entirely unknown. (Text-paper binder's blanks are also present at front and back in each of the double volumes, but are readily distinguishable by the chain-lines running horizontally instead of vertically.) Volume six has the erratum ‘MDCCCLXII' for ‘MDCCLXVII' on the title-page: a state which appears to be entirely unrecorded. Volume seven, published with volume eight on 22nd January, 1765, is in the first state, the word ‘Gentleman' on the title-page being in small capitals with a large initial capital, with Errata on verso of the title-page, and Chapter XXXIII on leaf I7r, p.125 (Rothschild says, in error, 123), headed XXXIV, the wrong numeration continuing through to the end of the volume. Volume nine, published 30th January, 1767, is of Nowell-Smith's setting (b) with the catch-word on p.v being ‘posteri-' and p.vi beginning incorrectly ‘riori' (instead of being divided ‘poste-' and ‘riori' as in his setting (a)). It is not known how many copies were printed of most of the volumes, but Cross, p.625 records a letter from the publisher Becket written to Sterne in France in which he says that 4,000 copies of the first edition of volumes five and six were printed, and this is presumably about the average. Cross, pp.600-603; CBEL, II, p.521; Block, p.225; Rothschild, 1970; Sawyer & Darton, I, pp.278-80; Ashley, V, p.204; Nowell-Smith, Notes & Queries, 1935, II, No.2, p.2.
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