A biographical dictionary of the living authors of Great Britain and Ireland; comprising literary memoirs and anecdotes of their lives, and a chronological register of their publications, with the number of editions printed; including notices of some foreign writers whose works have been occasionally published in England. Illustrated by a variety of communications from persons of the first eminence in the world of letters
London: printed for Henry Colburn, 1816. First edition, 8vo, pp. viii, 449, [1]; 20th-century tan cloth-backed green cloth over boards, morocco label lettered in gilt on spine; slight toning of the text but in all, a very good, sound copy. OCLC provides this note: "Mr. [Frederic] Shoberl proceeded to assure me, in the presence of his son, that the work was written by [John] Watkins as far as the letter F -- that some dispute with the publishers then arose -- that the materials were therefore handed over to himself -- and that he completed the work as it now appears."--Bolton Corney, in Notes & Queries, 1st ser., v. 11 (1855) p. 34. The work is sometimes attributed to William Upcott. The Blake people seem to love this book as an early reference to him, but the reference, in which he is described as "an eccentric but very ingenious artist," is but 14 lines long in one (of 2 columns) and in 8-point type. Item #62670
Price: $350.00
