Complete Works of William Hogarth, Subscriber's Edition, James Hannay, 1874-75

Complete Works of William Hogarth in a Series of One Hundred and Fifty Steel Engravings, from the Original Pictures. With an Introductory Essay by James Hannay,; and Descriptive Letterpress, by the Rev. J. Trusler, and E. F. Roberts. Subscriber's Edition, 1874-75.

Published by The London Printing and Publishing Company, Limited, London and New York. 

This very good blue cloth hardback with leather spine and corners, contains bound issues of a 'Subscribers Only Edition', issued in parts. The publication is undated, but very unusually, these parts have been bound with their wraps, on some of which are date stamps - nearly all of which are from 1875, but we think the first parts would likely to be from 1874. It appears that 2 parts were issued per month. These parts have been professionally bound and there are occasional skilful paper repairs which can be seen in the book.

This is an incomplete set of Hogarth engravings. The book contains the first 21 parts of this series, but parts 4 and 7 are not included. There are a total of 57 Hogarth Plates in total, as well as the preliminary title plate. The parts are bound in a consistent fashion with each comprising 3 Plates, 2 with tissue guards, followed by a few pages of associated text.

The book is very good overall. Covers do have shelfwear, bumping and marks, but binding is firm and secure. Some leather wear along outer hinge and at corners. The plates are generally bright and clean, with a few pages have some staining at the page edge, but never encroaching near the image. A really nice set of Hogarth prints.

Preliminary title + vi + 136pp + 57 Plates + original Subscribers Wraps for every issue (this is the first time we have seen such partwork covers before for a set like this).

Weight - A substantial Volume weighing approximately 2.1kg unpacked.

Dimensions - The volume is approximately 316mm high x 241mm wide x 40mm deep.