Catalogue of a Very Choice Library, and of a small but rich collection of Ancient Engravings and Modern Drawings, the property of A. G. Dew-Smith, Esq. [ Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, auction catalogue, sale date: 29-30 January 1878 ].

Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge.

Published by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, auction catalogue for the sale held on 29th and 30th January 1878, 1878

Printed wrappers, 8vo, 27 pp. 374 lots. Items from the collection of Albert George Dew-Smith (1848-1903) a British physiologist, lens maker, bibliophile, and amateur photographer who co-founded the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company with Horace Darwin. Dew-Smith was independently wealthy and an accomplished collector of rare books - an article in Frazers Magazine for July, 1879, on Bibliomania in 1879, states 'January 29 of last year is a red-letter day in the calendar of the bibliomaniac. On that day the library of Mr. Dew Smith was sold by auction at Messrs. Sotheby s room in the Strand. There never was brought together at that classic shrine a more illustrious congregation of book-hunters. The piety which they manifested was infectious; the prices which they gave were fabulous. The very catalogue is a work of genius; it sparkles like a page of Macaulay. And, in the absence of any official handbook, it is perhaps the best guide that the critical student of the latest fashions in bibliography can select. " The catalogue advertised the books as being "in the finest condition, . generally splendidly bound by Bedford, Clarke, Lewis, Riviere, Pratt, and other celebrated binders, and include - . Shakespeare s Poems 1640, with the excessively rare portrait. Milton s Paradise Lost, Comes, Lycidas, and Poems, all first editions. Block Book, Biblia Pauperum In Italian…together with the choicest Collection ever formed of the first Editions of the Works of Shelley, including the Adonais, Epipsychidion and Queen Mab.". Priced in manuscript for the first day's sale and for about two-thirds of the second day's sale. Front wrapper inscribed at head "On view Saturday 26 Jany & Monday 28 Jany." Inscription on front inside wrapper with tentative and incorrect identification of the consignor's name, occupation and address. Newspaper clipping of contemporary sale report (of the prints only) tipped-in to inside front wrapper. Slightly duststained, a little edgewear, faint central vertical crease, otherwise Good. Seller Inventory # ABE-59039

Bibliographic Details

Title: Catalogue of a Very Choice Library, and of a...
Publisher: Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, auction catalogue for the sale held on 29th and 30th January 1878
Publication Date: 1878
Binding: Soft cover
Edition: 1st Edition