brock c e railton herbert (1 risultati)

Hardcover. Condizione: Near fine. Brock, C.E. (illustratore). Twelve volumes (complete), in a half-leather Bayntun binding, many illustrations hand-coloured, extra-illustrated with 370 extra plates, small octavo size, approx. 4400 pp. Charles Lamb (1997-1834) is perhaps best remembered today for his "Essays of Elia" and "Tales from Shakespeare" which he co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb, to introduce Shakespeare to children. His biographer claimed that Lamb was "the most lovable figure in English literature" (n.b., per Wiki). Lamb's article in the "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" is lengthy and sheds light into many corners of the man's mind. My favourite is the penultimate paragraph, which sums up his talents and legacy thus: "Lamb's writings were held in highest esteem, probably, in the fifty years from about 1870 to 1920. The qualities in him that could be seen as whimsy and sentimentality meant that his reputation fared less well during the [later] professionalization of English literary studies. Later writers wishing to act as Lamb's advocates have looked to the more unsettling and darker notes of his writing, detecting in him another artist of Romantic anxiety (if not agony). On the other hand, Lamb has never been short of readers who respond to the forgiving friendliness of his manner, the novelistic vitality of his portraits, and the odd combination of the colloquial and the erudite in his prose style." This set of Lamb's works is profusely illustrated by Charles Edmund Brock (1870-1938) who provided the artwork for many well-known authors, including Jane Austen, Oliver Goldsmith, Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, and George Eliot, as well as contributing over 100 illustrations to "Punch". His style seems suited to Lamb's output, and the many illustrations, including chapter head- and tail-pieces, bring the text to life, with almost all of them being hand-coloured. In addition, the set is extra-illustrated wtih 370 extra plates, being mostly the various personages, both historical and contemporary, both real-life and fictional, mentioned in the relevant passages. There is one plate by Rowlandson (Volume 1, facing p. 232) and one coloured plate by George Cruikshank (Volume 3, facing p. 73). ___DESCRIPTION: Bound by Bayntun in half-leather over cloth boards, the spine compartments ruled in gilt and with gilt lettering, "Extra Illustrated 1903" at the tail of the spines, top edges gilt, marbled endpapers in shades of light pink and blue, vintage gift inscription on the flyleaf of the first volume dated Christmas, 1916, tissue-guarded frontis in Volume I a hand-coloured bust portrait of Lamb (each volume with a different fronti), title pages in red and black, according to a pencil notation on the verso of the front free endpaper in the first volume there are "350 Coloured / 330 Exra Illustrations"; however, by our count there are 370 extra illustrations; bindings are small octavo size (7 5/8" by 4 7/8"), the set contains approx. 407 preliminary pp. and 4066 text pp. ___CONDITION: Near fine, the boards clean, straight corners with minimal rubbing, strong, square text blocks with solid hinges, the interiors mostly clean and bright (a few pages with light soil), and the sole prior owner marking being the Christmas gift inscription noted above; uniform light sunning to the spines, a very few exceedingly minor defects to the leather, a few extra plates have offsetting to the opposite pages, we did note a few very short closed tears to several leaves (margins only). Overall a lovely set. ___POSTAGE: Please note that this is an extremely large and heavy set, and therefore additional postage will apply; please inquire for details. International customers, please also note that any taxes, duty, or tariffs charged by your country will, of necessity, be your responsibility. ___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.