About this Item
Limited edition of 500 copies. Printed wrappers, 8vo, 88 pp, 4 plates. 88, [1] pp. From a contemporary review: "The collection of books in parts and associated literature assembled by Mr George Arents is housed in the New York Public Library in a room adjacent to the famous Arents Tobacco Collection. It represents the first determined effort to form a major collection of books which had appeared serially in separate numbers and are still in their original state. The majority of the books in the collection were published in England and the United States, since it was not Mr Arents's intention to collect works in foreign languages. The collection contains more than 650 items (printed books, MSS, letters, and drawings), dating from 1588, with Nicholas Yonge's Musica Transalpina (which is not, strictly speaking, a book in parts), to the present day, the most recent item listed being Old Garden Roses, the first part of which was issued in 1955. The earliest book in parts in the collection is An Apology for the Conduct of Mrs. Teresia Constantia Phillips, London, 1748-1749, which was printed in seventeen monthly and bi-monthly numbers. As might be expected, Mr Arents acquired for the collection much scarce and unique material. Among the many rarities are a 'prime' Pickwick (1836-1837), as well as (according to Miss Dickson) the best of the four known copies of the New York edition in twenty-six parts (1837-1838); 'one of the finest copies known of Vanity Fair' (1847-1848), with one of the two recorded copies of the first American edition in two parts (New York, 1848); Washington Irvine's Salmagundi, New York, 1807-1808 (apparently the finest of the five known complete sets), the earliest American work in the collection, and the same author's The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., New York, 1819-1820; a unique copy in parts of The Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley, London, 1834; The History of the Royal Residences, by William H. Pyne, London, 1817-1819, 'the only copy so far recorded in intact original condition'; The Microcosm of London, 1808-1810; History of the Indian Tribes of North America, by Thomas L. M'Kenney and James Hall, in twenty parts, Philadelphia, 1836-1844; and James Sowerby's English Botany, with the supplement, in 350 parts, London, 1790-1814, 1829-1866." Contents: A Brief Survey; The Checklist: I Fiction, Poetry, Essays, and Other Works of Belies Lettres; II Sporting Books and Original Drawings, Scandalous Memoirs and Books on 'High Life,' Works of Humor and Caricature; III Works of Travel, Art (including Costumes), Architecture, and Landscapes; IV Shilling Shockers and Penny Dreadfuls; V Informational Works, including Biography, History, Theology, Philosophy, Sciences; VI Works on Botany and Zoology; Index of Authors and Anonymous Works; Index of Artists. Wrappers partly browned, Good. Seller Inventory # ABE-62352
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