The Life and Works of Charles Lamb.
New York: The Lamb Publishing Company, c.1900. 12 volume set, 9 1/2 inches tall. The India House edition, printed on hand-made paper, limited to 130 sets, of which this set is number 25. This magnificent set was printed for Helen Louise Leonard Lillian Russell and has her bookplate. Lillian Russell was one of the most famous actresses during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, she was renowned for her beauty and good taste. The spectacular 'Spanish' calf binding has gilt raised bands, superb ornate gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Gilt top edges, the foredges and bottom edges are left deckled. There is some minimal rubbing, otherwise pristine with no fading the set appears has been behind glass since being bound. Best know for his 'Tales from Shakespeare' and 'Essays of Elia', Charles Lamb was at the heart of a major English literary circle, which included Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth and William Hazlitt. His great biographer, E. V. Lucas described him as "the most lovable figure in English literature".