395.00 USD
How cool to sport a collection of antique 18th-century books on your library shelf. Perfect for office or home decor, these four (4) leather-bound volumes by T. Smollett (Tobias Smollett) are also historically significant.
The four volumes are part of Smollett's The Complete History of England published between 1757 and 1765 in London and "printed for James Rivington and James Fletcher, at the Oxford-Theatre; and R. Baldwin, at the Rofe, in Paternoster-row."
A Complete History of England from the Descent of Julius Caesar, to the Treaty of Aix La Chapelle, 1748. Containing the Transactions of One Thousand Eight Hundred and Three Years.
By T. Smollett, M.D.
This set includes:
Volume the First -- The Second Edition, 1758
Volume the Third -- The Second Edition, 1758
Volume the Fourth -- The Third Edition, 1758
Volume the Ninth -- The Third Edition, 1759
The volumes contain some illustrations, mostly portraits of kings.
Tobias Smollett (1721-1771) was a Scottish poet & writer best known for his picaresque novels such as The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) & The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753). Charles Dickens credited Smollett as an influence on this fiction. Smollett also translated Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote into English, but he considered The Complete History of English to be his greatest work.
What condition do you think you would be in if you were 256 years old? Well, these books are old and show their age. These books were printed before the use of acid wood pulp paper. Being printed on high-quality cotton or linen based paper, the pages are supple and are not crumbling. They are somewhat yellowed by age particularly at the edges. Some pages are dog eared, a some pages have markings, spots & soiling. The fold-out map in the front of the first volume is torn but complete. There are two fold-out illustrations which are also torn, but complete. The leather covers are dry and crumbly. The bindings are in tact.
Please let me know if you have any questions or would like me to send you additional photographs of the books.
Check out my books, records, & paper section for an eclectic selection of interesting titles:
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