1804-1813 The British Classics, and Drake's Essays

Description

Decorative Binding, First Edition, Illustrated, Leather Binding

A wonderful set of this work, which aimed to preserve and celebrate the key literary and cultural periodicals the eighteenth century.

Present here are twenty-three volumes only of the twenty-four volume set 'The British Classics', lacking only volume 14, being the second volume of 'The Guardian'.

Uniformly bound alongside the British Classics three volume first edition of 'Essays, Biographical, Critical, and Historical, Illustrative of the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian' by Nathan Drake.

These publications were central to the development of the essay as a literary form and to the dissemination of Enlightenment ideas on morality, manners, and philosophy.

The British Classics consists of:

Richard Steele's 'The Tatler', complete in four volumes, being volumes 1-4 of the set.

Steele and Joseph Addison's 'The Spectator', complete in eight volumes, being volumes 5-12 of the set.

'The Guardian', which should be in two volumes, is present in this set in volume 13 only, lacking volume 14.

Samuel Johnson's 'The Rambler', complete in fourteen volumes, being volumes 15-18 of the set.

'The Adventurer', complete in four volumes, being volumes 19-22 of the set.

'The Idler', complete in two volumes, being volumes 22-24 of the set.

Collated, illustrated with an engraved frontispiece and title page to each volume, with the exception of Rambler volumes II-IV and Idler volume II, which lack frontispieces. Each volume is illustrated with three to four further engraved plates, however no collation of the number of plates called for is extant.

Also present is the three volume first edition of Nathan Drake's 'Essays, Biographical, Critical, and Historical, Illustrative of the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian'.

Drake's work details the origins, authorship, and cultural impact of these periodicals, providing context and commentary, and blending biographical sketches of the contributors with critical assessments of their literary styles.

Bookplate of J. F. Charles to front pastedown.