The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner, etc.
London: John Stockdale, 1790. Stothard. Hardcover. A handsome eighteenth-century edition of Robinson Crusoe in an early Bayntun binding. Accompanied by a description of the book on the letterhead of the early twentieth-century bookseller Harry F. Marks. Marks describes it as a "SUPERB COPY OF ROBINSON CRUSOE... Engraved titles and vignettes and 15 beautiful steel engravings by Medland from designs by Stothard. 2 Vols., royal 8vo., handsome full polished sprinkled calf, panel sides, blind tooling, gilt fillet borders, extra gilt backs, inside dentelles, gilt edges, by Bayntun. Enclosed in fleece-lined slip case." With George Chalmer's "Life of Daniel Defoe". In the century since Marks wrote his description there have been minor scuffs to the front board of volume II and the hinges have begun to start. They have been professionally repaired and strengthened. At the advice of a conservator the volumes are no longer stored in the fleece-lined slip case. Loss to the head of the spine of volume I (see photos). Engraved portrait of Defoe has offset to facing page, other engravings have not. Faded owners' inscriptions to the title page of both volumes offer evidence of female ownership in both the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Volume I: Frontispiece, title page, advertisement, 2pp. Preface, 8 pp. Directions for Placing the Cuts, 6 pp. List of Subscribers, 2pp. Publisher's appeal for subscribers to their forthcoming edition of Shakespeare edited by Ayscough, 1-389pp. Volume II: Frontispiece, [i]-v, [1]-455, 14 page publisher's catalog, beginning with an appeal for subscribers to six-volume collection of the Works of Defoe. Very Good. Item #2023-P158
Price: $1,500.00