By Far the Handsomest of Contemporary Volumes Containing Bewick's Work, and Bound Here in Fine Period Red Morocco

POEMS BY GOLDSMITH AND PARNELL.

BEWICK, THOMAS and JOHN, Illustrators. GOLDSMITH, OLIVER, AND THOMAS PARNELL.

(London: W. Bulmer and Co. Shakspeare Printing Office, 1795). 305 x 238 mm. (12 x 9 5/8"). xx, 76 pp.

HANDSOME CONTEMPORARY SCARLET STRAIGHT-GRAIN MOROCCO, ELABORATELY GILT, covers framed by gilt fillets and decorative rolls, smooth spine, panels diapered into compartments containing annular dots, gilt lettering, turn-ins with gilt bead roll, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Housed in a velveteen-lined brown cloth chemise in an excellent matching morocco-backed slipcase. Engraved title page vignette, five plates, and seven vignettes in the text by Thomas and John Bewick. A Large Paper Copy. Front pastedown with bookseller's ticket of E. Lloyd. Hugo 87; Ray "England," 50. See also Glaister, p. 75. Four small black (ink?) spots to boards, a hint of wear to corners, title and dedication leaf a bit foxed, occasional mild foxing elsewhere, but an excellent copy--the text clean and fresh with capacious margins, and the beautiful contemporary binding lustrous and virtually unworn.

This extremely attractive poetic production is called by Hugo "a magnificent result of the efforts of the wood-engraver, type-founder, papermaker, and printer," and it is offered here in a richly decorative contemporary binding. The text is composed of two poems by Oliver Goldsmith ("The Traveller" and "The Deserted Village") and one poem by Thomas Parnell ("The Hermit"), accompanied by biographical sketches of each writer (that of Parnell written by Goldsmith). The charming illustrations are the work of the Bewick brothers. More than any contemporaneous artist or printer, Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) was responsible for a renewed interest in wood engraving, his virtuosity and prolific output in the medium raising its reputation in book production. And here, his artworks are accompanied by those of his brother John (1760-95). The large scenes, which gracefully depict the figures from the poems, are accompanied by the small head- and tailpiece vignettes for which Thomas Bewick is best remembered, the gently sentimental scenes of rural vistas and picturesque ruins perfectly offsetting the text. Our volume was beautifully printed on heavy Whatman paper by Bewick's friend, the celebrated William Bulmer, who, in Glaister's words, was "one of the best printers of the time, striving to raise the standard of English typography. To this end he perfected his own ink, used good paper and specially cut types." Ray praises the printing as well as the illustrations, writing that "thanks to Bulmer, this is by far the handsomest of contemporary volumes containing Bewick's work." Our copy, in pleasing contemporary morocco, is a particularly appealing example. (ST20880)

Price: $750.00