***SPECTACULAR ANTIQUE EDWARDIAN COMPLETE 12-VOLUME SET OF THE WORKS OF TOBIAS SMOLLETT IN ORIGINAL 1/2 MOROCCO FINE BINDING!***

OVERALL CONDITION:

ALL 12 VOLUMES IN VERY GOOD OR BETTER CONDITION.

1902 The Works of Tobias Smollett, edited by George Saintsbury with 36 illustrations by Frank Richards. Published in 1902 in London by Gibbings and Company in the limited edition de luxe of only 250 copies. This is copy 203/250. Collated and complete in 12 volumes. Printed by Morrison & Gibb in Edinburgh. Original binding.

Octavo, 6.75” x 4.5.” Fine original Edwardian 1/2 red morocco over finely woven red linen. Gilded five-ribbed spine with gilded compartment decoration, bordering and lettering. Top edges gilt. Rough cut fore-edges. Grey marbled endpapers. Thick, high-quality paper used for the leaves. Collated and complete featuring 36 tissue-guarded illustrations in total (a frontispiece and 2 additional plates per volume).

Tobias George Smollett (baptised 19 March 1721 – 17 September 1771) was a Scottish novelist, surgeon, critic and playwright. He was best known for picaresque novels such as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) and The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771), which influenced later novelists, including Charles Dickens.

Smollett’s reputation as one of the finest mid-18th century English writers was cemented with his major and widely-praised work, A Complete History of England (1757–1765). George Orwell praised him as "Scotland's best novelist".

CONDITION DESCRIPTION:

All 12 volumes are strongly bound with square spines, firm hinges and joints and tight pages. Nearly all gilding is intact and the boards are colorful, unfaded and not sun-toned. Very light rubbing to extremities. No foxing or writing internally, quite clean overall. Though There is a highly infrequent spot of soiling, like the small white paint stain to the fore-edge of leather board on volume 9 and a tear to a tissue guard I another volume. Former owner bookplate on front pastedown of each volume. Some light toning to the pages.

Volumes 11 & 12 are in NEAR FINE condition. Volumes 1-10 are in VERY GOOD or better condition - they have water dampening stains to tail of book near the spine heel, bottom edges and bottom of first dozen or so pages and last few pages in each volume else NEAR FINE.

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