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South East Asian Art and Antiques, & Antiquarian, Rare and Collectable books
South East Asian Art and Antiques, & Antiquarian, Rare and Collectable books
Boswell's Life of Johnson, Illustrated, 4 Volumes complete, Routledge, 1857-67

Boswell's Life of Johnson, Illustrated, 4 Volumes complete, Routledge, 1857-67

£90.00
SKU LAN7401

The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Comprehending an account of his studies and numerous works in chronological order ; a series of his epistolary correspondence and conversations with many eminent persons ; and various original pieces of his composition, never before published ; the whole exhibiting a view of literature and literary men in Great-Britain for nearly half a century during which he flourished. By James Boswell, Esq. A New Edition, Elucidated by Copious Notes, and Illustrated with Numerous Portraits, Views, and Characteristic Designs, Engraved from Authentic Sources. The books are also known as 'Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson' or 'Boswell's Life of Johnson'.

In Four Volumes:

Vol. 1; Published 1857. xxxii + 291pp. Preliminary title page dated to 1856.

Vol. 2; Published 1865. viii + 298pp. 

Vol. 3; Published 1866. viii + 298pp +1pp. 

Vol. 4; Published 1867. viii + 9-300pp (as issued) + 4pp Publisher's advertisements. 

Published by G. Routledge & Co, London. 1857 - 1867. From Volume 2 onwards, the Publisher is listed as Routledge, Warne, and Routledge. 4 Volumes complete. From the front cover, this is known as the 'Illustrated Library Edition', originally issued in weekly volumes. The first volume is marked as being 'Twelfth Thousand' on the title.

A good set of 4 orange cloth hardbacks with printed covers. Bumped and rubbed with sun fading to spine. Printed cover designs have worn considerably. Attractive bookplate design to first pastedown of each volume with the printed name of Aug. Hertwig. Yellow endpapers. Soundly bound. A very scarce pictorial binding.

Text pages are very good - clean and bright throughout with some age toning to edges, and mild age spotting to extremities. Volume 3 has some staining to the first few pages, and also has a fold-out of a 'Round Robin' addressed to Samuel Johnson, with facsimile signatures. Some spotting to title/frontispiece pages.

Text in English. Illustrated throughout with line drawings (quantified as 250 on the front cover).

Dimensions: Each volume approx 190mm high x 129mm wide x 21mm deep.

Weight: Approximately 1340g (the set of 4 - unpacked).