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Embellished and illustrated with a series of coloured prints, designed and engraved by messrs. Heath, Alken, Dighton, Rowlandson, &c. Mixed edition in two volumes, 1822 and 1824. Coloured plates. Additional coloured titlepage to each vol, that in vol I repaired and relaid. Hand coloured plates. All edges gilt. Uniformly bound by Andrew Grieve, Edinburgh, bindings signed, in half blue morocco over marbled boards, all edges gilt. Pages sl toned with usual offsetting from plates. A handsome set. The work first appeared in 56 weekly, and 14 monthly parts, some on large paper, in 1821-22. From a bibliographical point of view, Real Life in London, is one of the most complicated and bewildering books ever published, rivalling Pickwick Papers in the tangle of variant states that exist both in text and plates. Pierce Egan's Life in London reflected the rapid urban development of London in the early decades of the nineteenth century. "Published in monthly instalments, with colored plates by Isaac Robert and George Cruikshank, the serial described a country observer's introduction to the varieties of city life. Widely read, and creating many derivative items in print, illustrations, and stage performance, it expressed a new awareness of the modern city not only in England, but in Europe and the colonial territories". (SPRINGER LINK). Seller Inventory # 19880
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