London: Printed by J. Wright...For Vernor and Hood..., Longman and Reese..., 1804. 2 volumes. 8vo, 208 x 126 mms., pp. 350 [351 adverts, 352 blank]; [iv], 395 [396 colophon], including half-title in each volume, engraved portrait (after Titian) of Boccaccio as frontispiece in volume 1, engraved vignette on each title-page, contemporary tree calf, red and green morocco labels; joints on volume 1 cracked (but holding), but a good set. This translation by Charles Balguy (1708 - 1767) was first published in 1741, and ODNB claims that it was many times reprinted. The present set does seem to be a much expanded second edition, with a great deal of additional material. The revision is by Edward Dubois (1774 - 1850), who published A Piece of Family Biography in 1799 and Old Nick: a Satirical Story in 1801. The notice in The European Magazine and London Review, for 1804, having asserted that Il Decamerone had always been "considered too free in its language for general perusal" praises Dubois' redaction: "A Gentleman and Scholar who has able distinguished himself as Novelist and Critic under the whimsical name of Old Nick, has her done all that we think can be performed towards purifying and chastening the diction, without deteriorating the rich humour of the Novels." (Book ref. 8079)
London: C. Kegan Paul & Co..., 1878. FIRST EDITION. Small square 4to, 151 x 121, pp. 60 [61 -64 adverts], steel-engraved frontispiece, original printed cloth; slightly soiled and fingered, but a good copy, with an "achievement" presentation on the front paste-down end-paper: "Presented By the Manager of Newington Trinity Schools to Miss Richards As a reward for Good Conduct and General Improvement. Michaelmas 1879." Stretton (1832 - 1911) had her first story published in Household Words in 1859. Elaine Lomax in The Writings of Hesba Stretton: Reclaiming the Outcase(2009) notes that A Man of His Word is, among other things, an "analysis of class distinctions" and exposes "the inadequacies of social and legal systems and forms of punishments." Copies of this first edition appear to be uncommon, with Copac locating it at the BL and Cambridge; Harvard and Texas have copies printed by the American Tract Society, c. 1878. It was later republished by The Religious Tract Society under the title, Two Secrets and a Man of His Word. (Book ref. 8048)
London: Printed for T. N. Longman..., 1797. 2 volumes 12mo, 170 x 100 mms., pp. [iii] - xiv, 226; [iii] - viii, 225 [226 blank, 227 - 232 adverts], contemporary calf, gilt borders on covers, gilt rules across spines, black morocco labels; slight stain to upper fore-margin of title-page volume 1,some minor wear to binding, but a good to very good copy, with the armorial bookplate of Lord Lilford on the front paste-down end-paper of each volume, and the contemporary autograph "Atherton" on the top margin of the verso of the front free end-paper in each volume. Jane West ([née Iliffe, 1758 - 1852) published this, her second novel, in 1796 just after the publication of The Advantages of Education in 1793. It is a commonplace of literary criticism that her novels anticipate the themes, backgrounds, and values of Jane Austen. The English Review in 1796 remarked, "The Gossip's Story before us is well told, and is a most excellent lesson of morality, delivered in a history of Mr Dudley and his two daughters, Louisa and Marianne. The evil attendant on yielding to a romantic turn of mind, is shewn, in striking colours, in the character of Marianne, who refuses the addresses of an amiable man, because he does not render himself ridiculous by acting the whining lover. Louisa, by adhering to the principles of duty and plain sense, attains the reward of virtue by becoming the wife of the man whom her sister has refused. Marianne marries also; but is led, by an affected sensibility, into many errors, which terminate in the indifference of her husband, and her own unhappiness." Garside, Raven, and Schöwerling, The English Novel, 1770 - 1829: 1796, 89. (Book ref. 8042)
London: Printed for J. Wilkie..., [no date] [/1758]. 2 volumes. 12mo, 173 x 98 mms., pp. [xv], 12 - 296]; vi, 330, contemporary quarter calf, spine richly gilt, red morocco labels, marbled boards (rubbed); one third of leaf before title-page volume 1 torn away, some worming and browning not affecting text, as well as the odd stain, spines slightly worn, tops and bases slightly chipped, extremities worn. A fairish to good set. The History of Charlotte Summers was published twice in 1750 and in Dublin in 1753. It has been attributed to Sarah Fielding, perhaps perhaps because of the author's declaration early in the novel, that "I am the first Begotten, of the poetical Issue, of the much celebrated Biographer of Joseph Andrews, and Tom Jones; I dare not pretend to be legitimately begotten; I believe I must content myself with the Honour of being only a natural Brat of that facetious Gentleman..." The Monthly Review (1750) did not much like the novel, saying, "all that we can say of this performance, is, that the author has kept his name unknown, which is an instance of his discretion...." Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, however, could not put it down: writing to her daughter (Lady Bute) on 16 February 1752, she said, "The next Book I laid my Hand on was the Parish Girl, which interested me enough not to be able to quit it till it was read over, tho the author has fallen into the common mistake of ARomance, writers, intending a virtuous character and not knowing how to draw it...." The novel was translated into French in 1769 and several times reprinted. ESTC locates copies at BL and UCLA. (Book ref. 8041)
Dublin: Printed by T. Henshall..., n. d. [1795-6]. FIRST HENSHALL EDITION. 2 volumes in 1. 12mo (in 6s), 168 x 88 mms., pp. 71 [72 blank]; [ii], 72, additional engraved title, two engraved plates, contemporary lightly mottled calf, gilt spine; several annotations in pencil, no front paste-down end-paper or preliminary leaves before engraved title, which has some off-setting from leather, rear free end-paper creased and detached, both hinges a little tender, upper front and rear joint cracked, with slight loss of leather at top of spine and front joint. Fleeman 59.4R/26. ESTC N27923, locating copies at Dt, O; MH-H; Fleeman adds C; CaOTP, ViU. (Book ref. 7817)
London: Printed for F.C. and J. Rivington; J. Walker; B. and R. Crosby; Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; J. Harris; Darton, Harvey, and Co.... [and 6 others], 1812. 2 volumes. 12mo, 176 x 98 mms., pp. xvi, 232; [iv], 239 [240 blank], including half-title in volume 2, engraved frontispiece in each volume, 2 other engraved illustrations in volume 2, contemporary sheepskin, contemporary tree sheepskin, red leather labels; occasional foxing, front joints slightly cracked, but a good set from Fasque House in Aberdeenshire, these volumes designated "Servants Library/ October 1838" in a contemporary hand on the recto of the front free end-papers, and the inscription on the recto of the following leaf, "Master T. Gladstone/ From his affectionate/ Sister Anne./ Decbr 27th 1816." After the death of his first wife, Jane, of Sir William Gladstone (1764 - 1851) married Anne Mackenzie Robertson (1771/2 - 1835); they had six children, one of whom became the Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. Day (1748 - 1789) published this work in three volumes in 1783, 1786, and 1789, and it was frequently reprinted and much-praised over the next hundred years. In the fifth paragraph of the novel, Harry Sandford removes a large snake from Tommy Merton's leg, and Tommy assures his mother that he is unharmed, "but I believe that nasty, ugly beast would have bitten me, if that little boy had not come and pulled him off." The herpetology of the West of England in the late 18th century is perhaps a topic that has exercised the attention of scholars and herpetologists, but one cannot be but a bit sceptical about such an account. (Book ref. 7803)
Chester: Printed by J. Fletcher, For T. Craig, in Natwich, 1785. 12mo (in 6s), 173 x 100 mms., pp. iv, 289 [290 blank], engraved frontispiece, engraved plates at pages 26, 92, 137, D3 signed D2, K2 signed K3, contemporary sheepskin; text fingered and soiled, binding very worn, joints holding on for dear life, corners worn, a poor copy, with a late 18th century inscription on the recto of the front free end-paper: "Samuel Simpson's/ Book of/ Ingomells/ Price 1/6/ 1799/S." ESTC T72322 locates copies in BL, Bodleian, Liverpool; Emory, Stanford, Florida, Michigan, Yale. (Book ref. 7758)
London Printed [by E. Hildyard] for the Translator; Thavies Inn, Holborn, and for Joseph Gerold in Vienna. 1799. FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION. 8vo, 206 x 120 mms., pp. xxix [xxx blank], 447 [448 blank, 449 -450 adverts], including half-title and engraved title-page, contemporary speckled calf, spine richly gilt, black morocco label; lower spine slightly defective, slight wear to front joint, but generally a very good copy. The subscribers include John Stockdale, Samuel Ireland, Thomas Macklin, several members of the Macnamara family, and James Watt added in ms. at the end. This is a translation of Lafontaine's Naturmensch (1792). Wennington also published A Translators' Defence, or The Man of Nature, a Novel, from the German of Miltenberg, Again Reviewed, a pamphlet of 24 pages which defends his translation, including this happy notice from, of all places, The Commercial and Agricultural Review: "If ever a fair female reader, in the families of our rural friends, shall deign to glance upon these pages; we shall beg leave to inform her of all the novels we have lately perused, the Man of Nature is one of the most innocent and most pleasing; that of all our late translations from the German, it is, perhaps, the best; and that though Mr. Wennington might have spared his notes, and some affectations of style,--he deserves our best thanks both for selecting this volume for translation, and executing his task so well." Neither the Critical Review ("An improbable story, which did not deserve to be translated..."), nor the Monthly Review ("We cannot discern the great superiority in point of invention and design, which the translator attributes to the original...") were quite so enthusiastic. ESTC T100448 locates copies in BL, Cambridge, Glasgow; Huntington, University of California Berkeley. Garside, Raven, and Schöwerling, The English Novel, 1770 - 1829: 1799, 62. (Book ref. 7749)
Glasgow: Published by J. Lumsden and Son, 1815. 16mo, 105 x 62 mms., pp. [3] - 47, woodcut frontispiece and eleven woodcut illustrations in text, original light purple printed wrappers, with page 47 being the recto of the rear cover, with a humorous dual face - anger/laughter - depending on which way up it is; spine a little worn, but a very good copy. The title-page does not attribute the work to Swift nor assert that it is abridged from his works, and it bears some relation to the first book of Gulliver's Travels. Part of Ross's Juvenile Library. Another edition with a similar title was published in Glasgow by J. and M. Robertson in 1799. This might be a reprint. (Book ref. 7744)
London: Published for the Author by Darton and Clark, Holborn Hill. Birmingham: R. Davies, Temple Row. 1845. FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. 12mo (in 6s), 178 x 100 mms., pp. v [vi blank, vii Contents, viii blank], 156, steel-engraved plate by Rock & Co., London of a bucolic lakeside scene, "Ullswater," as frontispiece, bound in blue library buckram; ex-library (Belfast Public Library), with library check-out slip showing that the book was never checked out, and various library stamps; not a binding to cherish, but it adds a certain je-ne-sais-quoi to a slightly mysterious book. The "Authoress" notes in the preface that she has "ventured, after the lapse of many years, to intrude my works upon the notice of an indulgent and liberal public..." However, the only M. A. Shillingford that one can find in reference works and OCLC is a Mrs. Shillingford, whose maiden name was Sullivan, e. g.,""Happiness and Misery, or The Contrast; An Interesting Lesson for Young Ladies. By Miss Sullivan, now Mrs. Shillingford (London: J. Fairburn, c. 1823]." Mary Ann Sullivan is named as the author of a four-decker Gothic Novel published by Simpkin and Marshall in London in 1816, Owen Castle, Or, Which is the Heroine? where she is described as "Late of the Theatres Royal, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Birimingham, and Norwich. The Theatrical Inquistor for May, 1814, describes the author: "Mrs. Shillingford, late Miss Sullivan, is a very promising actress. Her desire to please is frequently received with the applause it justly merits" (page 314). So, it would appear that "M. A. Shillingford" is actually, or also, the Gothic novelist Mary Ann Sullivan. Mountain Tales certainly has all the elements of a Gothic novel, with a ruined tower, gloomy nights, a suicide, the restoration of an estate to its rightful heir, etc. (I am grateful to the scholar-collector who previously owned this book for generously allowing me to make use of his research.) Copac locates a copy in the BL, and WorldCat adds a copy in the Felton Collection, Stanford. Not traced in Block, Sadleir, Wolff, Montague Summers, or in Lawrence Darton's book on the publishers, The Dartons (2004). (Book ref. 7732)
London: Printed for W. Johnston..., 1759. Small 12mo, 148 x 78 mms., pp. [vi], 280, woodcut title-page with Bunyan's "Advertisement" on verso before title-page, woodcut illustrations on pages 10, 41, 53, 55, 97, 103, and 207 (full-page), "W. Hart/ given me by my Mother," contemporary sheepskin, rebacked, black morocco label; title-page a cancel, B6 slightly detached at inner margin, several margins closely trimmed, with text almost disappearing into inner margin in places, top of spine chipped, but a very good copy, printed on rather cheap paper. The Holy War was first published in 1682 and probably has never been out of print. ODNB notes, "During the First World War, Rudyard Kipling adapted The Holy War to the allied cause in a poem of the same name accompanied by an illustration depicting the British pilgrim attacking the German Diabolus, and letters from British soldiers included many allusions to The Pilgrim's Progress." Bunyan's service in the Newport Pagnell Garrison (c. 1644 - 1647) doubtless provided him with some of the military imagery that is found in The Holy War. This is a re-issue of the text as published by Johnston first in 1752; in this issue, line 23 of text on the verso of signature A2 begins: "What here"; and the ornament at the top of this page includes a face, and the final word of text on this page is not followed by a full stop. there were three further reissues in 1759. ESTC T58586 locates copies of this issue in BL, Bodleian, John Rylands, and York Minster library. (Book ref. 7716)
Paris: Printed by J. G. A. Stoupe; J. N. Pissot and Barrois, junior..., 1780, 12mo, 146 x 79 mms., pp. [ii], [5], 6 - 414 [415 errata, 416 blank], including half-title, contemporary calf, red leather label; inner margin of last ten leaves slightly wormed not affecting text, short tear in fore-margin of half-title, binding a bit dried. Six editions of Robinson Crusoe were published in Paris in the 18th century, four in English. This edition was first published in 1779, with only the names of Stoup and Barrois on the title-page; in this reprint, the title-page is a cancel, and it seems to be a re-issue of the 1779 sheets. A second edition was published in 1783. The work has been abridged, probably by Thomas Gent. ESTC T72317 locates three copies: BL and Congregational Library in these islands; and the Pierpont Morgan in USA. (Book ref. 7618)
London: Printed for E. Newbury..., 1799. Small 12mo (in 6s), 137 x 77 mms., pp. [iii] - xi [xii blank], 148 [149 - 150 note], engraved frontispiece, contemporary quarter roan, gilt spine, marbled boards; lacking half-title, base of spine defective, but otherwise a very good copy. Kendall (1775/76 - 1842) had, as ODNB notes, "had a varied literary output, which divides into four categories: his serious ideas and proposals for political and social reforms, for example his letters on the state of Ireland; his weekly 'popular' journalism which, ambitiously, might be described as a forerunner of Harmsworth; his translations from the French; and his children's books." Here, moral hypotheses take on an ornithological contour, where a canary bird escapes escapes his cage for the wider world, has a series of increasingly bizarre experiences, learns that "what he had regarded as a universal misfortune was, in fact, a blessing to others." He resolves to return to his cage, his mistress, and captivity, which he successfully does. Readers of colonialist narratives would have a field day (pun intended) speculating on the analogies with Britain's burgeoning empire. Roscoe J204. ESTC T118003 locates copies in BL, Cambridge, Bodleian, Reading; Miami University, Pierpont Morgan, UCLA, Illinois, Yale, McGill, Toronto. (Book ref. 7599)
London: Chapman and Hall..., 1839. FIRST EDITION (state and issue unknown). 8vo, 206 x 121 mms., pp. [iii] - xvi, 624, engraved portrait frontispiece of Dickens, 39 engraved plates, contemporary half calf, marbled boards, spine blocked in gilt; plates foxed and two with contemporary inscription on verso of plate, e. g., " [?Lazlo] Lovett Esqr/ Brook House/ Whittlesea/ 1839". (Book ref. 7502)
London: H. Ingram and Co...., 1855. 3 volumes in 1. 8vo, 183 x 126 mms., pp. iv, 118; viii, 108; iv, 112, woodcut frontispiece to volume 2, numerous woodcuts in text, inscription on title-page, "Jabez Turner/ 1855," contemporary buckram, morocco label; end-papers browned, binding a little soiled. Edward Bradley (1827 - 1889) published this in parts during the early 1850s, and the work became, according to one source, "something of a cult book" about Oxford, though Bradley was in fact an undergraduate at Durham University and spent a year at Oxford after graduation. ODNB records, "Bradley first adopted the pseudonym Cuthbert Bede when publishing some undergraduate verses in Bentley's Miscellany in 1846. The name honours the two tutelary saints of Durham. Despite the later vast popularity of his Verdant Green books he appears to have had little direct knowledge of Oxford undergraduate life. It was once assumed that what knowledge he had had been acquired during the eighteen-month gap between his Durham licentiate and his first curacy, but there is little or no evidence of an extensive sojourn in the university." (Book ref. 7494)
London: Frederick Warne and Co., 1889. 8vo, 214 x 140 mms., pp. [x], 269 [270 blank, 280 - 286 adverts], steel-engraved frontispiece, vignette on title-page, 24 other full-page engraved illustrations, from drawings by Reginald B. Birch, contemporary green cloth, with front cover illustration in gilt and spine in gilt, presentation inscription "Alice Lovett Staffurlt/ from/ Mother/ August 27th 89" on rector of frontispiece; front hinge cracked, corners and top and base of spine worn, somewhat sprung in binding, a fair to good copy. Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) published this, her first children's book, as a serial in the St. Nicholas Magazine between November 1885 and October 1886, and as a book by Scribner's in New York in 1886; it has probably never been out of print since then. It was, of course, successful almost beyond belief and had the effect, unfortunate or otherwise, of parents' dressing their male sons in velvet costumes. Gainsborough's 1770 portrait Blue Boy seems to have been the model. (Book ref. 7490)
London: John Macrone..., 1839. Small 8vo, 158 x 93 mms., pp. xi [xii blank], 238, [2], 67 [68 blank], including half-title, engraved and printed title-pages, engraved coloured frontispiece and 3 engraved coloured plates (all slightly water-stained), engraved title-page slightly water-stained, attractively bound, probably in the 20th century in full green morocco, with Beardsleyesque flourishes and ornaments on front and rear covers, "The Epicvrean" in gilt rectangle on lower front cover and "Olearii Liber" in rectangle on rear cover, gilt bordering on inner covers, spine gilt in compartments, all edges gilt; except for the water-staining a fine and attractive copy. Moore (1779 - 1852) published The Epicurean in 1827, and Alciphron appears here for the first time. The illustrations were engraved by Edward Goodall, of which Luke Herrmann in his ODNB entry on Moore says that he "was also responsible for engraving the four theatrical compositions drawn by Turner, using his powers of descriptive illustration to the full, to illustrate the vivid prose of Thomas Moore's popular novel The Epicurean...." (Book ref. 7379)
A Zuric chez l'Auteur, 1777. 2 volumes. Large 4to, 257 x 195 mms., pp. [xvi], 184; [3], 4 - 190, engraved title-page in each volume, separate engraved title-page in volume 1 for Contes Moraux, list of subscribers in volume 1, 10 full-page engraved plates in each volume, engraved head- and tail-pieces (39 in all) for each tale or section, early 19th century half calf, spotted boards (a little worn). A fine set, with very fresh impressions of the (often erotic) plates. This is certainly one of the most attractive editions of Gessner's works, even in a French translation. Gessner was responsible for choosing the illustrations, and the erotic overtones of many of the engravings perhaps enjoyed a more robust reception in this French translation. Copac locates a copy at the NLS in these islands, and there appear to be numerous copies in North America and Europe. Leemann-van Elck, Salomon Gessner, p. 113 and no. 539; Maler und Dichter der Idylle S. Gessner (1980), no. 88; Goedeke IV, 1, 82, 11; Rümann 329; Lanckoronska/Oehler II, 164; Cohen/de Ricci 432; Lonchamp 329. Not in Meyer. (Book ref. 7063)
London: Printed for T. Cooper..., 1742. 8vo, 165 x 97 mms., pp. x, [8], [17] - 232, 235 - 239 [240 blank], contemporary calf, neatly rebacked and binding restored, new morocco label; title-page soiled, text fingered, pages toned, lightly browned to margins, several leaves nicked/ chipped to fore-edges, into text at pp. 35, some scattered smudging and marking, ink spotting to a few margins, corners turned/ creased at points, a few upper leaves dampstained to lower margin. Admonishing her niece for revealing so much of her cleavage in his upper garment, the "Maiden Lady" seems to anticipate the burka: "Women, in strictness, should never appear in Public but veil'd; at least Young Women should never shew their Faces to any Men, but their nearest Relations." As ODNB notes, the work begins in almost pornographic fashion, but "quickly disappeared as the discussion turned to the undesirability of marriage and the harmful effects of child bearing on women, two proto-novels, and a discussion of the dangers posed by Louis XIV to Europe's peace and security." Mandeville 1630 - 1733) published this in 1709. ESTC T57159 locates copies in BL, Bodleian, TCD, Leeds Brotherton; Duke, McGill, UCLA. (Book ref. 7057)
"In Milano Appresso di Giovann' Antonio de gli Antonij," "1554." 8vo, 172 x 110 mms., pp. [ii], ix [x blank], [4]; 5 - 227 numbered leaves, with woodcut colophon leaf at end, and the same woodcut device on the title-page, 18th century vellum, marbled end-paper, gilt spine, morocco label. A fine copy. In fact, this is a facsimile ("counterfeit" seems too strong a word here) edition printed in Lucca in the 1740s. The original was published in 1558 and was a source for The Merchant of Venice. (Book ref. 7053)