The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay (Frances Burney).
London: Vizetelly & Co, 1890-1891. 3 volume set, 7 1/4 inches tall. An exquisite little set bound in half mottled calf by Ramage, with gilt raised bands, delicate gilt tooling to the panels and fine orange labels. Top edges gilt. Madame D'Arblay was one of England's greatest literary authors, writing great novels, 'Evelina', 'Cecilia', 'Camilla' and 'The Wanderer' and dairies which extended over 72 years. She was admired by, and influenced, Dr Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke, Hester Lynch Thrale and David Garrick. Her early novels were read and enjoyed by Jane Austen, whose own title Pride and Prejudice derives from the final pages of Cecilia. Thackeray drew on the first-person account of the Battle of Waterloo recorded in her diaries while writing his Vanity Fair. A very pretty set in pristine condition.