Surtees Robert Smith John Leech Illustrator (20 results)
Published by Bradbury & Evans, 1858
- Hardcover
Seller: Sequitur Books, Boonsboro, MD, U.S.A.Sequitur Books
Contact seller5-star sellerAssociation member: IOBA
Hardcover. Condition: Fair. Bound in contemporary 1/2 leather over worn boards. Loss to most of the pasteboard paper. ix. 412 pages Color frontis, 12 color plates. Wood engravings. First book edition. TOoley, English books with coloured plates, p. 376. Field, p. 204. THe plates were hand colored after directions by Leech.
Published by Bradbury, Agnew & Co, 1888
- Hardcover
Seller: Sequitur Books, Boonsboro, MD, U.S.A.Sequitur Books
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Condition: Used - Very good
£ 26.65
£ 4.41 shippingShips within U.S.A.Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketHardcover. Condition: Very Good. Subscribers edition. Hardcover. Publishers tooled red cloth. Gilt spine and cover. Good binding and cover. Bookplate. Light shelfwear. Clean, unmarked pages.
More imagesPublished by London: Bradbury, Agnew and Co., 1858
- Hardcover
Seller: Sequitur Books, Boonsboro, MD, U.S.A.Sequitur Books
Contact seller5-star sellerAssociation member: IOBA
Condition: Used - Very good
£ 72.33
£ 4.41 shippingShips within U.S.A.Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketLeather Bound. Condition: Very Good. London: Bradbury, Agnew and Co. XII-412 p., fig., pl. en coul. Half-bound in dark red calf-skin leather. Corners bound. 5 raised bands. 6 compartments. Gilt decorative flourishes on spine. Gilt borders. Light red boards. Tight binding and solid boards. Minor shelf wear. Slight bumping to corn…ers. Rubbing to boards. Slight scuffing to spine. Marbled endpapers. Clean, unmarked pages. Profusely illustrated. A scarce early edition in very good condition. Chipping to top of spine. Ships daily.
Mr. Sponge's sporting tour. / By the author of "Handley Cross," Jorrocks's jaunts', etc. etc. With illustrations by John Leech
Surtees, Robert Smith (1805-1864). Leech, John (1817-1864) [illustrator]
Published by London: Bradbury & Evans, 1860
- Hardcover
- First Edition
Seller: MW Books, New York, NY, U.S.A.MW Books
Contact seller5-star sellerFirst Edition. Inscription from previous owner. Very good copy in the original gilt-blocked cloth. Spine bands and panel edges slightly dust-toned and rubbed as with age. Scattered foxing throughout. Remains particularly well-preserved overall. Physical description; x pages, 1 leaf, 408 pages, 13 col'd plates (including frontisp…iece) illustrations 8vo. Subjects; Wit and humor. English fiction, 19th century. Fox hunting. Etchings. Specimens. 1 Kg.
Mr. Sponge's sporting tour. / By the author of "Handley Cross," Jorrocks's jaunts', etc. etc. With illustrations by John Leech
Surtees, Robert Smith (1805-1864). Leech, John (1817-1864) [illustrator]
Published by London: Bradbury & Evans, 1860
- Hardcover
- First Edition
Seller: MW Books Ltd., Galway, IrelandMW Books Ltd.
Contact seller5-star sellerCondition: Used
£ 84.11
£ 11.99 shippingShips from Ireland to U.S.A.Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketFirst Edition. Inscription from previous owner. Very good copy in the original gilt-blocked cloth. Spine bands and panel edges slightly dust-toned and rubbed as with age. Scattered foxing throughout. Remains particularly well-preserved overall. Physical description; x pages, 1 leaf, 408 pages, 13 col'd plates (including frontisp…iece) illustrations 8vo. Subjects; Wit and humor. English fiction, 19th century. Fox hunting. Etchings. Specimens. 1 Kg.
More imagesPublished by Bradbury, Agnew & Co. ltd, 1852
- Hardcover
Seller: Sequitur Books, Boonsboro, MD, U.S.A.Sequitur Books
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Condition: Used - Very good
£ 121.81
£ 4.41 shippingShips within U.S.A.Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketLeather Bound. Condition: Very Good. London: Bradbury, Agnew and Co. VIII-408 p., fig., pl. en coul. 8vo. Half-bound in dark red calf-skin leather. Corners bound. 5 raised bands. 6 compartments. Gilt decorative flourishes on spine. Gilt borders. Light red boards. Tight binding and solid boards. Minor shelf wear/rubbing. Marbled…endpapers. Clean, unmarked pages. Profusely illustrated. A scarce early edition in very good condition. Ships daily.
More imagesPublished by Bradbury and Evans, 1854
- Hardcover
Seller: HM Books, Kingston, NY, U.S.A.HM Books
Contact seller4-star sellerLeather Bound. Condition: Good. Rebound in leather with all hand colored engravings by John Leech intact.
Mr. Romford's Hounds
[SURTEES, Robert Smith]; LEECH, John (Illustrator); BROWNE, H. K. [Hablot Knight] (Illustrator)
Published by Printed for Subscribers [1920], London, 1920
- Hardcover
Seller: Yesterday's Gallery, ABAA, East Woodstock, CT, U.S.A.Yesterday's Gallery, ABAA
Contact seller4-star sellerHardcover. Illustrated by John Leech, H. K. Browne, &c. Limited Edition, No. 4 of 50 copies, specially colored. Octavo. Contemporary full leather by Bayntun, gilt decorated covers and spine, 5 raised bands to spine. Front cover rehinged. All edges gilt. Late novel by English editor and sporting writer. With 24 beautifully colore…d plates. Very good, front cover rehinged; chip to marbled front free endpaper.
Published by Printed for Subscribers [1920], London, 1920
- Hardcover
Seller: Yesterday's Gallery, ABAA, East Woodstock, CT, U.S.A.Yesterday's Gallery, ABAA
Contact seller4-star sellerHardcover. Illustrated by John Leech. Limited Edition of 50 copies, specially colored. Octavo. Contemporary full morocco leather by Bayntun, gilt decorated covers and spine, 5 raised bands to spine. Covers rehinged. All edges gilt. Early novel by English editor and sporting writer. With 17 beautifully colored plates. Very good,…covers rehinged; imprints left by two red silk page markers which are nearly detached but present.
Published by London, Bradbury & Evans, 1853., 1853
- Softcover
- First Edition
Seller: Bernard Quaritch Ltd ABA ILAB, London, United KingdomBernard Quaritch Ltd ABA ILAB
Contact seller5-star sellerCondition: Used
£ 350.00
£ 32.00 shippingShips from United Kingdom to U.S.A.Quantity: 1 available
Add to basket8vo, pp. [6], [ix]-x, [2], 408; with 13 hand-coloured steel-engraved plates and numerous woodcut illustrations in text; lightly toned, occasional spots; a good copy in mid 19th-century half red calf with pebble-grained cloth sides, spine gilt in compartments with gilt green morocco lettering-piece in one, gilt venatic centre-pie…ces in others, non-pareil marbled edges and endpapers; rubbed with a few small scuffs, neatly rebacked in red tissue; 19th-century ink ownership inscription of 'Nath. Baker' to p. 25, early 20th-century armorial bookplate of Kington Baker to upper pastedown.First edition of Surtees's most successful novel, and his first collaboration with John Leech. Though never acknowledging his career as a sporting author, Surtees was a significant contributor to the Sporting Magazine, in 1830 replacing Nimrod as hunting correspondent and the following year establishing with Rudolph Ackermann a rival New Sporting Magazine, where he assumed the role of editor in addition to that of hunting correspondent. By the time of his first novels, in the 1840s, he had inherited Hamsterley Hall and was able to devote himself to farming, hunting, and writing. Issued in serial parts, here bound together, Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour had been published in an earlier version in the New Monthly Magazine (1849-1851), under the title Soapey Sponge's Sporting Tour. With Surtees's characteristic engagingly vulgar hero and rollicking style accompanied by Leech's humorously sketched illustrations, the novel proved enormously popular, becoming the first of several collaborations between the two. The present copy is from the library of Kington Baker, a collector whose seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Japanese porcelain is held by the British Museum. Mellon 187.
More imagesPublished by London, Bradbury, Agnew, & Co., 1899-1900., 1899
- Hardcover
- First Edition
Seller: Bernard Quaritch Ltd ABA ILAB, London, United KingdomBernard Quaritch Ltd ABA ILAB
Contact seller5-star sellerCondition: Used
£ 1,200.00
£ 32.00 shippingShips from United Kingdom to U.S.A.Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketFirst Edition. [Comprising:][SURTEES, Robert Smith,] and John LEECH (illustrator). Handley Cross, or Mr. Jorrocks's Hunt. London, Bradbury, Agnew, & Co., 1899. [with:][SURTEES,] and Hablot Knight BROWNE and W.T. MAUD (illustrators). Hawbuck Grange, or the Sporting Adventures of Thomas Scott, Esquire. London, Bradbury, Agnew, & C…o., 1900. [and:][SURTEES,] and LEECH. Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour. London, Bradbury, Agnew, & Co., 1899. [and:][SURTEES,] and LEECH. 'Ask Mamma', or the richest Commoner in England. London, Bradbury, Agnew, & Co., 1899. [and:][SURTEES,] and LEECH. 'Plain or Ringlets?'. London, Bradbury, Agnew, & Co., 1900. [and:][SURTEES,] and LEECH, BROWNE, and W.T. MAUD (illustrators). Mr. Facey Romford's Hounds. London, Bradbury, Agnew, & Co., 1900. 6 works in 11 vols, royal 8vo, with 87 hand-coloured steel-engraved plates, and 425 woodcut illustrations in text (of which a great many full-page); titles and half-titles printed in red and black, woodcut initials throughout; 2 short marginal tears in Handley Cross vol. II; publisher's red cloth, spines gilt, upper boards lettered directly in gilt, top-edges gilt, tail-edges trimmed, fore-edges uncut; end-caps lightly bumped, corners minimally rubbed, very few marks; a very good set.Limited 'Master of Foxhounds' edition, finely printed at the Whitefriars Press. Having published the first editions of several of Surtees's sporting novels, Bradbury, Agnew, & Co. gathered and reprinted the six most successful as the 'Handley Cross series' as luxury sets. Publisher's advertisements at the rear of the present volumes advertise, besides the 'M.F.H. edition', a 'Country Gentleman's Library edition' and the '"Jorrocks" edition' (each comprising only six volumes), described thus: 'This inimitable series of Volumes is absolutely unique, there being nothing approaching to them in all the wide range of modern or ancient literature. Written by Mr. Surtees, a well-known country gentleman, who was passionately devoted to the healthy sport of fox-hunting, and gifted with a keen spirit of manly humour of a Rabelaisian tinge, they abound with incidents redolent of mirth and jollity. The Artist, Mr. Leech, was himself also an enthusiast in the sport, and has reflected in his illustrations, with instinctive appreciation, the rollicking abandon of the Author's stories.' Surtees's distinctively adventurous style, often coarse and colloquial, has earned admirers and critics for his works in equal measure, yet his sporting novels remain the most popular of the nineteenth century. 'His books ran counter to the currents of his age in their lack of idealism, absence of sentimentality, and almost wilful flouting of conventional moralism. His leading male characters were coarse or shady; his leading ladies dashing and far from virtuous; his outlook on society satiric to the point of cynicism. One Victorian theory was that such readership as he enjoyed was due to the humour of John Leech's illustrations, a view perpetuated in the Dictionary of National Biography. Yet, paradoxically, the qualities that in his own time prevented an appreciation of his talents as a writer, preserved his books in a later age from the oblivion which befell many of his more famous contemporaries. 'Surtees's range was limited, his style often clumsy and colloquial. Even in the better-constructed novels the plots are loose and discursive. Nevertheless, his sharp, authentic descriptions of the hunting field have retained their popularity among fox-hunters, for whom the sanitized (and in their day immeasurably better-selling) hunting novels of George Whyte-Melville have long lost their appeal. Among a wider public his mordant observations on men, women, and manners; his entertaining array of eccentrics, rakes, and rogues, his skill in the construction of lively dialogue (a matter over which he took great pains); his happy genius for unforgettable and quotable phrases; and above all, his supreme comic masterpiece, Jorrocks, have won him success.
Published by Bradbury and Evans
Seller: Wonder Book, Frederick, MD, U.S.A.Wonder Book
Contact seller5-star sellerCondition: Good. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1853. Early edition. 8vo. x,408pp. Illus. by John Leech. Good book. Mild shelfwear. Signatures C-D very loose. Some fore page edges frayed. (fiction, fox hunting) Inquire if you need further information.
More imagesPublished by London: Bradbury and Evans,, 1853-54, 1853
- First Edition
Seller: David Brass Rare Books, Inc., Calabasas, CA, U.S.A.David Brass Rare Books, Inc.
Contact seller5-star sellerFirst Edition. A Very Good Set In the Original Monthly Parts With Thirteen Hand-Colored Steel-Engraved Plates by John Leech SURTEES, Robert Smith. LEECH, John, illustrator. Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour. With illustrations by John Leech. London: Bradbury and Evans, March 1853 - October 1854. First edition in the original parts. Oct…avo (8 3/4 x 5 5/8 in; 223 x 144 mm). x, [2], 408, pp. Thirteen hand-colored steel-engraved plates, heightened with gum arabic. Thirteen hand-colored etched plates, numerous black and white woodcut illustrations. With most advertisements as called for by Tooley. Lacking "Allsopp's Ale" 4 pp. in part VII and "Handley Cross, Childs History." 8 pp. in part XII/XIII. Some of the wrappers have variant advertisements on inside wrappers. Publisher's original red-brown pictorial wrappers, expertly rebacked. A very good set. Chemised and housed in a red cloth clamshell case with black leather spine label lettered in gilt. Provenance: Van Santvoord Merle-Smith (1889-1943) was a United States soldier, lawyer, and investment banker, who served as Third Assistant Secretary of State from 1920 to 1921, and as Executive Intelligence Officer to General Douglas MacArthur during World War II. Sadleir 3166; Tooley 476.
More imagesPublished by London: Bradbury and Evans, 1860, 1860
- First Edition
- Art / Print / Poster
Seller: David Brass Rare Books, Inc., Calabasas, CA, U.S.A.David Brass Rare Books, Inc.
Contact seller5-star sellerFirst Edition. In the Original Monthly Parts With Hand Colored Vignette Title and Twelve Humorous Hand Colored Plates by John Leech SURTEES, Robert Smith. [LEECH, John, illustrator]. Plain or Ringlets? London: Bradbury and Evans, 1860. First edition. Thirteen parts bound in twelve. Octavo (8 3/4 x 5 5/8 in; 223 x 144 mm). viii,…[2], 406, pp. Thirteen hand-colored steel-engraved plates, heightened with gum arabic. Hand-colored etched vignette title and twelve hand-colored plates. Black and white wood engravings throughout. Bound without the 12-page catalogue at end of the thirteenth part. However this set has two additional advertisements: "New Books published by John Camden Hotten" 2 pp. at end of part IX. and "New Books published by John Camden Hotten. Rubbing the Gilt Off" at the front of part X. Publisher's original red-brown pictorial wrappers. A very good set, chemised and housed in a red cloth clamshell case with black leather spine label lettered in gilt. One of the great pleasures of Plain or Ringlets is the interpretation of its events by the artist John Leech. He was introduced to Surtees by William Thackeray, a great friend and admirer of Surtees' work. The first novel Leech illustrated for Surtees was Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour. Surtees had originally asked Thackeray to illustrate this work, but Thackeray declined on the grounds that he could not draw horses; instead, he recommended Leech, being 'of a sporting turn' and who 'to my mind draws a horse excellently'. Leech illustrated all of Surtees' subsequent works and the two men became friends. The illustrations follow the text closely, a result of close collaboration between the artist and writer. Although Leech was responsible for numerous book illustrations, and is lauded as the chief cartoonist of Punch, some of his best work is to be found in the pages of Surtees' novels. Provenance: Van Santvoord Merle-Smith (1889-1943) was a United States soldier, lawyer, and investment banker, who served as Third Assistant Secretary of State from 1920 to 1921, and as Executive Intelligence Officer to General Douglas MacArthur during World War II. Field, p. 212; Podeschi 199; Sadleir 3167; Schwerdt Ii, p. 238; Tooley 477..
More imagesMr. Facey Romford's Hounds
SURTEES, Robert Smith; LEECH, John, illustrator; BROWN, Hablot K., illustrator
Published by London: Bradbury and Evans, 1864-65, 1864
- First Edition
- Art / Print / Poster
Seller: David Brass Rare Books, Inc., Calabasas, CA, U.S.A.David Brass Rare Books, Inc.
Contact seller5-star sellerFirst Edition. In the Original Monthly Parts With Twenty-Four Humorous Hand Colored Plates by John Leech and Phiz SURTEES, Robert Smith. LEECH, John, illustrator. BROWN, Hablot K., ilustrator. Mr. Facey Romford's Hounds. By the Author of "Handley Cross," " Mr. Sponge's Sporting Town," &c. &c. With Illustrations by John Leech and… Hablot K. Brown. London: Bradbury and Evans. 1864-65. First edition, third issue (with Part I's title, Mr. Facey Romford's Hounds, in solid lettering), in the original twelve monthly parts, May 1864-April 1865. Octavo (8 3/4 x 5 5/8 in; 223 x 144 mm). vi, [2], 391, [1] pp. Twenty-four hand-colored steel-engraved plates, two to each volume, heightened with gum arabic. The illustrations to Parts VIII-XII are unsigned but by Hablot K. Brown aka "Phiz." The woodcut on the upper wrapper is by Hablot K. Brown. Advertisements collate per Tooley, save Part VI, which has small white slip "Mr. & Mrs. Asheton" instead of the Note of Lever's Martin, and Part XII, with two slips "Katherine and Her Sisters" (yellow) and "Sporting Works by the same Author" (white) instead of "The Belle of the Village" in part VII. Publisher's original red-brown pictorial wrappers. Minimal restoration of spines to a few volumes, small chips to fore-edge of back wrapper of Part I; 2 1/4 x 1/2 inch chip to top of rear wrapper of part X. Some occasional light soiling to a few leaves, otherwise an excellent set. Chemised and housed in a red cloth clamshell case with black leather spine label lettered in gilt. "Although Surtees approached his publishers in July 1861 with the idea of bringing out 'Mr. Facey Romford' they preferred not to undertake the matter until Mr. Leech's services were definitely secured and there would be no questoin of such delays as had occurred in the illustrations of 'Handley Cross.' Leech promised, however, to being in January 1862, and the situation seemed sufficiently secure to set up the type, but just at this time the artist held his first exhibition of oil paintings which proved so successful and diverting that the 'Facey Romford' illustrations were again postponed. Surtees in despair at last offered the book, in August 1864, to 'The Field,' where is was refused. In March of that year Leech finally undertook the drawings, but never lived to complete the work, which was carried on by Phiz" (Field). Provenance: Van Santvoord Merle-Smith (1889-1943) was a United States soldier, lawyer, and investment banker, who served as Third Assistant Secretary of State from 1920 to 1921, and as Executive Intelligence Officer to General Douglas MacArthur during World War II. Field p. 225; Tooley 475; Sadleir 3165; Schwerdt II p. 237; Podeschi 207.
More imagesPublished by London: Bradbury and Evans, 1857-58, 1857
- First Edition
- Art / Print / Poster
Seller: David Brass Rare Books, Inc., Calabasas, CA, U.S.A.David Brass Rare Books, Inc.
Contact seller5-star sellerFirst Edition. A Surtees Title in the Original Monthly Parts [SURTEES, Robert Smith]. "Ask Mamma;" or, The Richest Commoner in England. By the author of "Handley Cross," "Sponge's Sporting Tour," etc. etc. With illustrations by John Leech. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1858. First edition, first issue. In the original thirteen mon…thly parts, March 1857-April 1858. Octavo (8 7/8 x 5 5/8 in; 225 x 144 mm.). ix, [3], 412 pp. Thirteen hand-colored engraved plates (including frontispiece) and sixty-nine wood-engravings in text, all by John Leech. Original pale brick printed wrappers. A lovely set with very little wear and minimal restoration. Plates very clean and bright. A near fine set. Chemised in a red cloth slipcase with black morocco spine labels lettered in gilt. Set collates per Tooley. First issue front wrapper to Part I with "Ask Mamma" in outline letters (with back cover ad titled "Mappin's Shilling Razor"). No "Advertiser" is called for in Parts XI and XII. Lacking "Advertiser for part X" but with additional leaf of ads "The English Cyclopaedia" in part XIII. Provenance: Van Santvoord Merle-Smith (1889-1943) was a United States soldier, lawyer, and investment banker, who served as Third Assistant Secretary of State from 1920 to 1921, and as Executive Intelligence Officer to General Douglas MacArthur during World War II. Mellon/Podeschi 195; Sadleir 3161; Schwerdt II, p. 233; Tooley 472; Wolff 6632.
More imagesPublished by London: Bradbury and Evans, 1853-54, 1853
- First Edition
- Art / Print / Poster
Seller: David Brass Rare Books, Inc., Calabasas, CA, U.S.A.David Brass Rare Books, Inc.
Contact seller5-star sellerFirst Edition. In the Original Monthly Parts With Seventeen Humorous Hand Colored Plates by John Leech SURTEES, Robert Smith. [LEECH, John, illustrator]. Handley Cross. or Jorrock's Hunt. With illustrations by John Leech. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1854. First illustrated edition, first issue with 'Illustrious Leech" in Preface…. Seventeen original parts issued from March 1853 to October 1854. Octavo (8 3/4 x 5 5/8 in; 223 x 144 mm). viii, [2], 550, pp. Seventeen hand-colored steel-engraved plates, heightened with gum arabic. Seventeen hand-colored etched plates, numerous black and white woodcut illustrations. With most advertisements as called for by Tooley. Lacking "Foreign Tour" 4 pp. in part XI and "English Cyclopaedia" 2 or 4 pp. in part XV. Some of the wrappers have variant advertisements on inside wrappers. Publisher's original red-brown pictorial wrappers. An excellent set, bright and fresh. Chemised and housed in a red cloth clamshell case with black leather spine label lettered in gilt. An original source set, not later put together, with the first owner's neat signature to the upper margin to each front wrapper: "John Lloyd Egginton," Esq. of Charborough Park and Bere Regis, Dorset, who assumed the name Egginton-Ernle-Erie-Drax by royal license upon succeeding to the property of that extinct baronetcy. One of the great pleasures of Handley Cross is the interpretation of its events by the artist John Leech. He was introduced to Surtees by William Thackeray, a great friend and admirer of Surtees' work. The first novel Leech illustrated for Surtees was Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour. Surtees had originally asked Thackeray to illustrate this work, but Thackeray declined on the grounds that he could not draw horses; instead, he recommended Leech, being 'of a sporting turn' and who 'to my mind draws a horse excellently'. Leech illustrated all of Surtees' subsequent works and the two men became friends. The illustrations follow the text closely, a result of close collaboration between the artist and writer. Although Leech was responsible for numerous book illustrations, and is lauded as the chief cartoonist of Punch, some of his best work is to be found in the pages of Surtees' novels. Provenance: Van Santvoord Merle-Smith (1889-1943) was a United States soldier, lawyer, and investment banker, who served as Third Assistant Secretary of State from 1920 to 1921, and as Executive Intelligence Officer to General Douglas MacArthur during World War II. Podeschi 188; Sadleir 3162; Schwerdt II, p. 234; Tooley 473.
More imagesPublished by London
Seller: Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB
Contact seller5-star sellerMixed Edition. Together six octavo volumes (8 5/8 x 5 7/16 inches; 219 x 137 mm.). All first editions in book form except for Handley Cross and Hillingdon Hall, which are the first illustrated editions (first published in three volumes, without illustrations, in 1843 & 1845). Uniformly bound ca. 1920 in full red crushed levant m…orocco by Riviere & Son (stamp-signed on front turn-ins). Covers triple-ruled in gilt, spines with five raised bands, decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments, gilt-ruled board edges, decorative gilt turn-ins, top edge gilt, others uncut, dark blue coated endpapers. All with the original gilt decorated cloth covers bound in at end. Each volume with the armorial bookplate of Herman Frasch Whiton and his ink signature on a front blank. Several joints show varying degrees of cracking - still a very handsome set. The first five titles originally published in parts. Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour with thirteen hand-colored engraved plates and eighty-four wood engravings; Handley Cross with seventeen hand-colored engraved plates and eighty-four wood engravings; Ask Mamma with thirteen hand-colored engraved plates and sixty-nine wood engravings; Plain or Ringlets? with thirteen hand-colored engraved plates and forty-four wood engravings; Mr. Facey Romford's Hounds with twenty-four hand-colored engraved plates and wood-engraved title vignette; [and] Hillingdon Hall or, The Cockney Squire with twelve hand-colored engraved plates and wood-engraved title vignette. Robert Smith Surtees (1805-1864) "founded, with R. Ackermann the younger, the New Sporting Magazine in 1831, to which he contributed his comic sketches of Mr Jorrocks, the sporting Cockney grocer, later collected as Jorrocks's Jaunts and Jollities (1838). Jorrocks, whose adventures to some extent suggested the original idea of Pickwick Papers, reappears in Handley Cross (1843; expanded and illustrated by Leech, 1854). His second great character, Mr Soapey Sponge, appears in Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour (1853); another celebrated character was Mr Facey Romford, who appears in his last novel, Mr Facey Romford's Hounds (1865). His eight long novels deal mainly with the characteristic aspects of English fox-hunting society, but his vivid caricatures, the absurd scenes he describes, the convincing dialect and often repeated catch-phrases, distinguish him from other writers of this genre. The illustration of his novels by Leech, Alken, and 'Phiz' (H.K. Browne) also contributed to their success" (The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature). Hardie211-213. Schwerdt II, 233-238. Tooley 476, 473, 472, 477, 475, & 474.
More imagesPublished by Bradbury & Evans, London, 1860
- First Edition
Seller: Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB
Contact seller5-star sellerFirst edition. Thirteen parts bound in twelve. Octavo (8 3/4 x 5 11/16 inches; 223 x 145 mm.). Publisher's original red-brown pictorial wrappers. With the bookplates of H. Bradley Martin and Fitz Eugene Dixon. Hand-colored etched vignette title and twelve hand-colored plates. Black and white wood engravings throughout. Bound wit…hout the 12-page catalogue at end of the thirteenth part. Chemised and housed in a red cloth clamshell case with black leather spine label lettered in gilt. First and final parts with small losses at spine foot, color plate in part five with light crease, still a very good set. One of the great pleasures of Plain or Ringlets? is the interpretation of its events by the artist John Leech. He was introduced to Surtees by William Thackeray, a great friend and admirer of Surtees' work. The first novel Leech illustrated for Surtees was Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour. Surtees had originally asked Thackeray to illustrate this work, but Thackeray declined on the grounds that he could not draw horses; instead, he recommended Leech, being "of a sporting turn" and who "to my mind draws a horse excellently." Leech illustrated all of Surtees' subsequent works and the two men became friends. The illustrations follow the text closely, a result of close collaboration between the artist and writer. Although Leech was responsible for numerous book illustrations, and is lauded as the chief cartoonist of Punch, some of his best work is to be found in the pages of Surtees' novels. Podeschi 199. Tooley 477. Schwerdt Ii, p. 238. Field 212.
Published by Bradbury & Evans, London, 1858
- First Edition
Seller: Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB
Contact seller5-star sellerFirst edition. First issue, in the original thirteen monthly parts, March 1857-April 1858. Publisher's original red-brown pictorial wrappers. A lovely, rather astonishing set with minimal wear, confined to spine extremes and small closed tear to fore-edge of Part I. Plates clean and bright. Octavo (8 3/4 x 5 5/8 in; 223 x 144 mm…) Collating. ix, [2], 412, with thirteen hand-colored engraved plates (including frontispiece) and sixty-nine wood-engravings in text, all by John Leech. Set collates per Mellon/Podeschi and Schwerdt. First issue wrapper to Part I per Wolff (with back cover ad titled "Mappin's Shilling Razor"). No Advertiser is called for in Parts XI and XII. Chemised and housed in a red cloth clamshell case with black leather spine label lettered in gilt. A Fine set. One of the great pleasures of Ask Mamma is the interpretation of its events by the artist John Leech. He was introduced to Surtees by William Thackeray, a great friend and admirer of Surtees' work. The first novel Leech illustrated for Surtees was Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour. Surtees had originally asked Thackeray to illustrate this work, but Thackeray declined on the grounds that he could not draw horses; instead, he recommended Leech, being "of a sporting turn" and who "to my mind draws a horse excellently." Leech illustrated all of Surtees' subsequent works and the two men became friends. The illustrations follow the text closely, a result of close collaboration between the artist and writer. Although Leech was responsible for numerous book illustrations, and is lauded as the chief cartoonist of Punch, some of his best work is to be found in the pages of Surtees' novels. Mellon/Podeschi 195. Sadleir 3161. Schwerdt II, 233. Tooley 472. Wolff 6632.
