Rowlandson

London: Ackerman, c. 1825. 3 volume set, 9 3/4 inches tall. A superb and extraordinary full mottled calf, c. 1830, with large gilt tooled label on a smooth back, gilt bands and an ornate 'starburst' of gilt tooling to the spine. The boards have a delicate floral roll framing the almost cat's paw smattering of gray and brown mottling. Blind dentelles and all edges gilt. Decorated with 80 splendid hand-coloured aquatints by the great humorous illustrator Thomas Rowlandson. All three volumes declare themselves to be 3rd editions but to confuse matters the first volume also states that it is the 9th edition on the engraved title page. A succession of editions came out shortly after the first and the plates in this set are all dated the same as the first. Having been used for so many 'strikes' the images are more flat and less clearly defined than in the 1st editions. There is some staining and browning to some plates particularly in the third volume. But still a lovely complete set in a super binding.

London: Jones & Co., 1821-22. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. Handsome set in a later half blue crushed morocco binding with raised bands, blind pallets and gilt titles. Much read and admired, not many sets have survived in fine condition. This set is a little grubby, especially round some plates and a little closely cropped in places, touching the titles in places. A few leaves and plates are chipped with some repairs, there are occasional nicks and creases else the majority of contents are in clean and firm condition. Embellished with a series of superb hand-coloured aquatint plates designed and engraved by Alken, Dighton, Brooke and Rowlandson. First Edition. This set contains 34 plates, including the 2 not listed and often absent. The plates are charming and highly amusing with fascinating details of life in Regency England. Subtitled 'The Rambles and Adventures of Bob Tallyho, Esq. and his Cousin The Hon. Tom Dashall through the Metropolis exhibiting a Living Picture of Fashionable Characters, Manners and Amusements in High and Low Life by an Amateur'. The identity of this 'amateur' has been much debated. 'Real Life in London' is a pleasanter book than its prototype 'Life in London'. Some have held that Egan wrote it; but the author had a purer style, a cleaner mind and a wider knowledge of London than Egan. The book shows many more sides of London life than his; though the formal descriptions of well known scenes or buildings, here and there inserted amid matter of a very different character, recall very forcibly Mr. Bouncer's letters to his aunt in Verdant Green. This work was very popular, more so than even Egan's Life in London' and Combe's three tours of Dr. Syntax. A neat set of this great comic and enigmatic work.