The Comic History of Rome by Gilbert Beckett hc 1850

Gilbert Beckett

Published by United States, 1850

About this Item

The Comic History of Rome, Gilbert Beckett, c. 1850 a.imagelink {color:#000000;} a:hover.imagelink {color:#000000;} a:visited.imagelink {color:#ff0000;} a.imagelink img.auctionimage { border: 2px solid #000000; } a:visited.imagelink img.auctionimage { border: 2px solid #ff0000; } One of the LONG-LOST TREASURES from SWAN'S MAGAZINE MART (1930-2007 The Comic History of Rome, by Gilbert Beckett. Illustrated by John Leech. Bradbury, Evans and Co, 11 Bouverie Street (London, England). Bound in green morocco, circa 1850-1851 (?). No actual date printed in book.Gilbert A Beckett (1811-1856), was an English humorist and editor, and a friend to Thackery and Dickens. His Comic History of England (in two parts) and Comic History of Rome are slightly playful looks at history, although not actually intended to be humor (it simply was not 'dry' and 'serious' like much other history of the era).There were ten amazing hand-colored steel plate engravings, and numerous b/w woodcuts. Please see the photos for several of these.This book has a name and a date handwritten inside the front cover, and the date is clearly 1870. However, as mentioned earlier, all references we could find *seemed* to indicate that this was the 1850-51 edition, because the 1870 edition appears to have had a different cover and marbelized endpapers. This book has plain endpapers (shown in photo 2). However, we do not rule out the possibility that the book was actually printed in 1860 or 1870, as it is difficult to date it. Different editions were printed in 1850, 1851, 1860, and 1870.All page edges are gilded, and there is gilt on the front cover and spine as well. Gilt on spine, gilt on cover, and gilt edges are all bright, and the pictures are clearly defined. Green moroccan cover boards, tooled with decorative frame design, all decoration is well-defined and not eroded. Cover corners are worn through on the tips, exposing the board beneath. Wear at top and bottom of spine. Wear on edges of spine. Endpapers are plain, thick, creamy paper. The first interior title page and the last interior page are very tanned, and the tanning has clearly-defined edges (see picture 8). The front part of the cover is completely detached from the interior title page, and falls away to expose the inside of the binding (see picture 3). The inside of the binding is firmly glued and bound. Some interior pages have stains and spotting. All ten color plates are present, although one or two are completely detached from the rest of the book. The loose pages have worn and frayed edges. The typeface is very small, but completely readable and not faded. Overall condition is good for such an old and scarce book. Seller Inventory # 790

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Comic History of Rome by Gilbert Beckett...

Publisher: United States

Publication Date: 1850

Binding: hard

Condition: See Pic