[BARRETT (Eaton Stannard).]. The Rising sun, A Serio-comic Satiric Romance. By Cervantes Hogg, F.S.M. Vol.I [II; III]. London: Printed for Appleyards, Wimpole-street, 1807. 3 Vols., 12mo, signed and gathered in half sheets; each volume with half-title, and hand-coloured engraved frontispiece (those to volumes two and three large folding and after O'Keefe, that to volume one page-sized and by a different, and much cruder, hand); 2pp. integral advertisements at end of volume one, 4pp. at end of volume three; original grey paper-covered boards; uncut edges. Boards recovered at an early date with marbled paper, this now worn and chipped; frontispiece to volume one chipped at one edge, trimmed at margins, and laid down onto verso of half-title page; those to volumes two and three strengthened on verso at folds, that to volume three lacking one, or possibly two of the folding sections; a very little light fingering and dusting, and one or two unobtrusive pencil notes in a contemporary hand identifying the originals of characters in the story, but the text in general in nice state; an acceptable copy of a scarce book, but needing some attention from a binder.

First edition of all three volumes, and the first state of volume one, with a (rather unsuccessful) page sized frontispiece instead of the large folding frontispiece present in later copies and in reprints. Not in Sadleir; Wolff, 318, and Block, p.15 record no more than the first two volumes of the work, the latter citing the British Library and one bookseller's copy only; CBEL likewise lists the work as in two volumes; Summers, listing all three volumes, records that four editions were published in 1807, with a fifth following in 1809, a statement which is given support by Locke, Spectrum, p.115, where, listing the book under Hogg, he records a copy with volumes one and two "Fourth edition, revised, corrected and enlarged, 1807", volume three alone being in the first edition. The disagreement between authorities as to the number of volumes, and the combination of editions found in the Locke copy, are explained by the fact that the work does seem to have appeared initially as complete in two volumes (on February 20th, 1807, if we can trust the engraving in the second volume), volume two bearing the word ‘Finis' at the end; whilst the third volume, as is indicated by the advertisements, appeared a little later in the year. Locke's copy of the first two volumes claims to be ‘revised, corrected, and enlarged', the extent of the alterations being perhaps suggested by the differences in collation between the two sets, the present set collating: [iv]+197+[1 (bearing printer's imprint only)+[1 (advertisement)]+[1 (blank)]; [iv]+171+[1 (blank)]; [iv]+212+[iv (advertisements), whilst in Locke's set pp.[198] and [200] in volume one both bear advertisements, whilst volume two is paged to 181 instead of 171, as here. One of the most celebrated political and social satires of its time; for its status as a fantasy v. Locke. Complete sets in the first edition are distinctly scarce.

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