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The Adventurer, the Doheny copy
Samuel Johnson and John Hawkesworth, 1753-54
[JOHNSON, Samuel (1709-1784), John HAWKESWORTH (1715-1773) et al.] The Adventurer. London: J. Payne, 1753-54 [but 1752-1754].
The Doheny copy, uncut, of the London bi-weekly newspaper undertaken by Hawkesworth and Johnson following the conclusion of the The Rambler. John Hawkesworth was the author of most of the essays, though Johnson certainly wrote 25 of them and may have contributed four more. The 140 numbers appeared bi-weekly from Tuesday 7 November 1752 until Saturday 9 March 1754, and are thought "likely" to have been printed by Cave, who also printed the Rambler. It was announced in the first issue that "These Numbers will be formed into regular Volumes, to each of which will be printed a Title, a Table of Contents, and a Translation of the Mottos and Quotations," and as Fleeman observes the colophons were intentionally "set low on the page to permit the binder to cut them away and give a clean appearance to the bound pages, so that in all trimmed copies they are missing." Rothschild also notes that "in the majority of bound copies, the imprint has been wholly or partly cut away by the binder," and the Rothschild copy itself is without the imprints. The present copy has Fleeman's "b" setting of the initial "M" in no. 47 on p. 277, but retains the repeated "and" in line 15 on p.280. A tall set with the imprint for each issue uncropped. Courtney & Smith p. 39, Fleeman 52.11Ad/1; Rothschild 1120.
Two volumes, folio (313 x 182mm). Uncut. Engraved vignette on both title pages, woodcut head-pieces and initials (minor occasional spots, a little intermittent browning, repaired tear in vol. 2 to p.121). Comprising 140 numbers. 19th-century calf gilt by C. Murton, red and tan morocco spine labels (some wear at joints and tips, a few scratches). Provenance: Henry Merrick Hoare (bookplate) - Estelle Doheny (bookplate; her sale, 18 October 1988, lot 1429).