Beschreibung:

CRUIKSHANK, Robert , illustrator -- [EGAN, Pierce (1772-1849)]. Life in London; or, the Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, Esq. and his Elegant Friend, Corinthian Tom . London: Sherwood, Neeley, and Jones, 1821.
CRUIKSHANK, Robert , illustrator -- [EGAN, Pierce (1772-1849)]. Life in London; or, the Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, Esq. and his Elegant Friend, Corinthian Tom . London: Sherwood, Neeley, and Jones, 1821. 12 original parts, 8º (254 x 165mm), with an additional copy of part I in the first issue wrapper. 36 hand-coloured aquatint plates, including frontispiece, after Isaac and George Cruikshank 17 wood-engraved text illustrations including title-page vignette, 3 sheets of folding engraved music (in parts IV, VIII and X). Half-title, title and preliminaries at end of part XII. ‘To the Subscribers’ slip inserted at front of the first issue of part I. 14-page publisher’s advertisement at front of part I; 4-page advertisement at front of part IV; one-page advertisement at end of part V; 8-page advertisement at end of part XII. (Some occasional pale spotting and light offsetting of plates onto text, a central soft vertical crease through most volumes, generally in fresh condition.) Stabbed-and-sewn in original printed wrappers, advertisements on inner front wrappers and both sides of back wrappers, an additional part II wrapper with first issue price (a few nicks and tears); green morocco pull-off case by the Lakeside Press. Provenance : Alfred Barmore Maclay (acquired in his sale, 1945). AN EXTRAORDINARY SET OF THE FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE IN THE ORIGINAL PARTS. Page 9 without the footnote, the first sheet of music unnumbered, and p. 376, line 1 reading ‘good-bies’. The Spitz set also contains the exceedingly rare ‘To the Subscribers’ leaf in the additional copy of part I: Tooley goes so far as to say that the work is complete without it, due to its rarity and since it is an inserted leaf, not part of a signature. The wrappers to this additional part (and the additional wrapper for part II) are themselves of considerable interest, and refer to the substance of the note ‘To the Subscribers’ stating that the expense of producing the work forced the publishers to increase the price. The first state of the wrapper is priced 2s. 6d. All subsequent wrappers, including the second copy of the first part, are priced at 3s. The only copy in parts traced at auction over thirty-five years is the Borowitz copy, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 11 April 1978, with wrappers repaired. THE SPITZ COPY IS ARGUABLY THE FINEST AND MOST BIBLIOGRAPHICALLY SIGNIFICANT COPY IN PRIVATE HANDS. Abbey Life 281; Cohn 262; Tooley 196.