Roscoe's novelist's library. With biographical and critical notices ... And illustrations by George Cruikshank
London: Cochrane and Pickersgill, 11 Waterloo Place, and J. Andrews, 162 New Bond Street [and] Effingham Wilson, Royal Exchange, 1831-33. 19 volumes, crown 8vo (approx. 6½" x 4"), later half brown morocco over marbled paper-covered boards by Briggs & Wauld, t.e.g.; lightly scuffed, one gathering in Tom Jones sprung; all else very good and sound. Seventeen volumes were "illustrated by George Cruikshank, and in these there are all together seventy-four etchings by him. The first two volumes, "Robinson Crusoe," were not illustrated by G. Cruikshank, whose services were obtained in the endeavour to make the series a success" (Cohen, p. 196). But clearly, in this set, Robinson Crusoe is a replacement edition, as published by John Major, with 2 engraved frontispieces and 37 wood engravings in the text by Cruikshank, thereby making this set entirely illustrated by Cruikshank. Included are The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe ... illustrated with numerous engravings from drawings by George Cruikshank expressly designed for this edition, London: printed at the Shakespeare Press, by W. Nicol, for John Major, Fleet Street, 1831. With 2 engraved frontispieces and 37 wood engravings in the text by Cruikshank. See Cohen 701 and Sadleir 3736a; Smollett, Tobias. The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker..., London 1831. With an engraved portrait by Freeman and 4 plates etched by Cruikshank; Cohen 702; Smollett, The Adventures of Roderick Random, London, 1831. With 5 etchings by Cruikshank; Cohen 703; Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, London, 1831. 2 volumes, with 8 etchings by Cruikshank; Cohen 704; Fielding, Henry. The History of Tom Jones, London, 1831. 2 volumes, with 8 etchings by Cruikshank and an engraved portrait by another artist after Hogarth; Cohen 705; Fielding, The Adventures of Joseph Andrews, London, 1832. With 4 etchings by Cruikshank; Cohen 706; Fielding, The History of Amelia, London, 1832. 2 volumes, with 8 etchings by Cruikshank; Cohen 707; Goldsmith, Oliver, The Vicar of Wakefield, London, 1832. With 4 etchings by Cruikshank and an engraved portrait of the author by Freeman; Cohen 708; Sterne, Laurence, Rev., The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy ... to which is added The Sentimental Journey, London, 1832. With 8 etchings by Cruikshank and an engraved portrait of the author by Freeman; Cohen 709; Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de, The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote, London, 1833. 3 volumes, with 15 etchings by Cruikshank and 3 engraved portraits by K. Meadows; Cohen 710; Lesage, Alain-René, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, London, 1833. 2 volumes, with 10 etchings by Cruikshank and 2 engraved portraits by K. Meadows; Cohen 711. The Novelist's Library is thought to be the collection of novels referred to by Dickens in David Copperfield (chap. 4). "My father had left a small collection of books in a little room upstairs, to which I had access (for it adjoined my room) and which nobody in our house ever troubled. From that blessed little room, Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle, Humphrey Clinker, Tom Jones, The Vicar of Wakefield, Don Quixote, Gil Blas and Robinson Crusoe came out, a glorious host, to keep me company. They kept alive my fancy, and my hope of something beyond that place and time..." Item #59794
Price: $1,500.00
