Description

3 volumes. First Edition Thus, called the First "Miniature" Edition, though the size is actually much larger. The first volume illustrated with hand-coloured frontispiece and 29 fine hand-colored engravings by Thomas Rowlandson, the second volume illustrated with 24 hand-coloured plates, the third volume illustrated with hand-coloured engraved frontispiece and 24 additional hand-coloured plates, two volumes with pictorial tail-pieces at the end of the text, one in black and white and one hand-coloured, all printed by Ackermann. 12mo, in sixes, bound in later full polished cranberry calf to style, the spines with raised bands, the compartments gilt stippled at the borders, central ornamental tooling gilt at the centers, three compartments lettered and numbered in gilt, the covers gilt rolled at the borders, marbled endleaves, all edges gilt. [2], 276; [4], 277; [2], 279 pp. A very good set, with only minor rubbing at the spine ends. The plates are clean and quite vividly colored.

Edizione: first of the edition, very scarce as a complete set. rowlandson's illustrations are of course the star of this set. combe has described how every month "an etching or drawing was sent to me, and i composed a certain proportion of pages in verse, in which, of course, the subject of the design was included; the rest depended on what would be the subject of the second, and in this manner the artist continued designing, and i continued writing, til a volume of nearly ten thousand words was produced."<br> the success of this none-too-promising enterprise surprised authors and publisher alike, and was mainly due to rowlandson's designs, which combined british breadth of humor with french lightness of touch. dr. syntax hats, coats, and wigs became fashionable, and the success of the first volume led to the two sequels here included.<br> clean sets in bindings have become very difficult to obtain.