Private Papers of James Boswell from Malahide Castle in the Collection of Lt.-Colonel Ralph Heyward Isham, 15 vols. [with]: Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson [and]: Private Papers of James Boswell: A Catalogue (17 vols. in all)

James Boswell

Verlag: Privately printed by William Edwin Rudge; Viking Press; Oxford University Press 1928-1936, 1928

Beschreibung

Thousands of pages; aquatone facsimile plates, some tipped in; most volumes 4to, one tall folio and a couple of smaller folios or 8vo. Red paper-covered boards, printed title label on spines; slipcases also with title labels on spines. This work initially consisted of 18 volumes designed by Bruce Rogers and printed by William Edwin Rudge. Joseph Blumenthal characterizes this production as "magnificent examples of the arts of the printed book" (Bruce Rogers: A Life in Letters, p. 105). And, according to Rogers, "I have chosen a style flexible enough to accommodate the various papers, journals and documents comprised in the collection. No especial effort has been made to secure an air of antiquity, but by the importation of a recent English reproduction of John Baskervillle s famous eighteenth century types it has been possible to present the text in a form typographically harmonious with Boswell s individual mode of expression" (from the prospectus). Printed on handmade Maidstone paper for the quartos and Ronneby for the folio volume. The aquatone plates reproduce a number of manuscript documents in actual size. No. 253 of 570 sets, comprised of volumes 1 to 15, plus two later-issued related volumes (Boswell s Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D. [Viking Press, 1936] and The Private Papers of James Boswell: A Catalogue [Oxford University Press, 1931]), issued with a similar red design scheme as the original volumes and sometimes considered part of the full set, for a total here of 17 volumes. Not present are volumes 16-18 of the initial set and the later index volume. Included with this set are the prospectus (13 pp. + facsimile specimen, in folio) in matching red folder; the separate printed announcement also in matching red folder from Ralph Isham addressing the death of Geoffrey Scott (who essentially acted as the editor of the papers in preparing them for publication) and Frederick Pottle as his successor to complete the project; and three pages (reprint?) from the New York Times Book Review (Sunday, January 6, 1929) with an extensive review of this work. Condition of vols. 1-14: pages are mostly unopened in many of the volumes and are exceptionally fresh and bright; red paper-covered boards retain their full depth of color, and overall, is a fine, well-preserved set; only minor wear to slipcase corners, all near fine. Condition of the other three volumes: Vol. 15: no. 228 of 570 copies; spine age-toned and spotted; interior fine, slipcase shows wear and is split at one panel joint. Tour to the Hebrides: no. 460 of 790 copies of this edition; printed by D. B. Updike at the Merrymount Press, spine faded, interior fine; no slipcase. Private Papers of James Boswell Catalogue: unnumbered, but one of 415 copies, bound in red cloth, fine copy in like slipcase. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 1772

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Private Papers of James Boswell from ...

Verlag: Privately printed by William Edwin Rudge; Viking Press; Oxford University Press 1928-1936

Erscheinungsdatum: 1928

Einband: Hardcover

Zustand: Near Fine

Auflage: 1st Edition