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An exhibition of printed books and manuscripts bequeathed to Glasgow University Library by Charles A. Hepburn, LL.D., 1891-1971: Glasgow University Library May-August, 1973 |
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Introduction
It was Dr. Hepburn's wish that after his death the University Library should have first choice of any of his books and manuscripts that it might wish to add to its collections. That wish proved to be a happy one for the Library, for one of Dr. Hepburn's main interests as a book collector lay in the field of first editions of nineteenth-century English literature, and it is precisely in this area that the University Library's collections have been felt to have some weakness - either because some of the works were not purchased at the time of publication, or because the Library's copies of those that were acquired have been used as reading copies by generations of students and have beome dilapidated, filled with pencil annotations, and often rebound. Thanks to Dr. Hepburn the University Library's holdings of such authors as Byron, Dickens and Scott are now much more robust. A similar enrichment of the University Library's resources took place in the field of nineteenth and twentieth century book illustration, another of Dr. Hepburn's special concerns. Some important gaps were also filled in the field of Scottish history and literature - Dr Hepburn was particularly interested in the cause of Mary Queen of Scots. He was also a connoisseur of fine bindings, to which the presence of over a dozen fore-edge paintings in the collection will testify (hitherto the University Library had no examples of this particular form of book embellishment). Altogether the Library received over 300 volumes from Dr Hepburn's collection, of which we have been able to select 75 for inclusion in this exhibition. It seems more than fitting that the books from Dr Hepburn's library should be kept together as a collection as part of Glasgow University Library's distinguished special collections. The presence of his name as an integral part of each volume's shelfmark will serve as a reminder of his generosity.
Psalter: Psalterium Davidis cum hymnis ex originali haud modica diligentia emendatum. Leipzig: Melchior Lotter, 1516 Hepburn q22 This printed Latin Psalter has historiated woodcut initials in red and blue and musical notation supplied in manuscript. At the end of the volume are twenty-six pages of contemporary manuscript music and liturgical text. The binding is of sixteenth-century blind-stamped calf with brass centre and corner pieces and clasps. Melchior Lotter, and his son of the same name, were the printers of many of Luther's tracts.
Heraldic manuscript: England, early seventeenth century Hepburn q23 This manuscript, which appears to date from the early part of Charles I's reign, contains upwards of 1200 coats of arms in colour of the following:
STORER, James Sargant & STORER, Henry Sargant: Thirteen miniature watercolour views of Edinburgh c. 1815-1818 Hepburn 266 These are some of the originals used for the engraved plates in J.S. and H.S. Storer's Views in Edinburgh and its vicinity (Edinburgh, 1820). The thirteen watercolours comprise views of: West Bow, the Tolbooth, Knox's House, Regent Bridge, St George's Church, Orphan's School, Heriot's Hospital, Charlotte Square, Canongate Tolbooth, Regent Murray's House, Weigh House, Episcopal House and part of the Mint, and St Giles' Cathedral. James Sargant Storer, born in Cambridge in 1771, worked at drawing and engraving old English buildings and other antiquarian subjects. For some years he was associated with John Greig, another topographical artist. From 1814 he worked wholly in conjunction with his eldest son, Henry Sargant Storer. He died in London in 1853. Storer was distinguished for his extreme accuracy and beauty of finish and often exhibited at the Academy.
BLACK, William: Sunrise Author's holograph manuscript, bound by Zaehnsdorf, with silver clasp. 1880 Hepburn 309 William Black, 1841-1898, was born in the Trongate, Glasgow, studied at the Glasgow School of Art, and was later employed in the office of the Glasgow Weekly Citizen. His first novel, James Merle, was published in Glasgow. Sunrise, which was written in 1880, and first published in 1881, was regarded by Black himself as his best work, but it was never popular.
BARRIE, Sir James Matthew The little minister, a comedy Author's holograph manuscript of Act 3 Hepburn 267 The play is a love story between a young minister, the Reverend Gavin Dishart, and the "gypsy" who was to turn out in the end to be no less a person than Lord Rentoul's roguish daughter, Lady Babbie; and as a background to this story, Barrie depicted the puritanism of the village of Thrums. The little minister was first published as a novel in serial form in Good Words, January to December 1891. In the dramatised version Barrie made a number of changes in the story, introducing an entire new scene which did not appear in the novel. The play was first produced in London at the Haymarket Theatre on 6 November 1897. It had a run of 300 consecutive performances. A paragraphist in the Pall Mall Gazette, a fortnight after its première, wrote "At this moment the playgoers of London and New York are together paying a sum of £4,000 a week to see The little minister." According to Lady Cynthia Asquith in her Portrait of Barrie, "Barrie spoke disparagingly of the play, which he said he did not intend to include in any future editions of his works. Ungrateful of him, for it earned him £80,000 in its first ten years." English Literature
DEFOE, Daniel An essay upon projects London: Printed by R.R. for Tho. Cockerill, 1697 Hepburn 65 Defoe's Essay upon projects is one of his earliest works. It was published while he was accountant to the Commissioners of glass duty (1695-1699). Among the many notable ideas 'projected' in the Essay are: the registering of seamen, the education of women, provincial banks, a Commission for dealing with bankrupt estates, the founding of Friendly Societies, state pensions, taxation, academies, etc. The Essay was re-issued in 1700 as Several essays relating to academies, and again in 1702 with the title Essay upon several projects.
GAY, John Poems on several occasions London: 1731 Hepburn 23-24 In 1720, shortly after Gay's return from a visit to France, the publishers and booksellers, Jacob Tonson and Bernard Lintot, rivals, but both friends of Gay, co-operated in producing Poems on several occasions, the first collection of his poetical works. Gay had spent some time deciding which poems to include; he omitted most of his translations from classical authors, but all the major poems and epistles (whether published or unpublished at that time) found a place. The poems had been printed by subscription in order to raise money to cover Gay's debts and his list of subscribers can compare with any of the famous successes of the time. Altogether he made about £1000, a considerable sum of money for poetry.
DODSLEY, Robert A collection of poems in six volumes, by several hands London: 1758 Hepburn 35-40 This is a made-up copy; volumes 1, 2 and 3 are of the fifth edition, volume 4 is of he second edition, and volumes 5 and 6 of the first edition. This set was at one time in the library of William Makepeace Thackeray and was among the volumes sold by auction at his house, 2 Palace Green, Kensington, in March 1864. None of the books (with a few rare exceptions) had any mark of ownership except the die-stamp impressed at the top of the title-page of each volume.
GOLDSMITH, Oliver Essays London: 1765 Hepburn 91 A number of Goldsmith's contributions to periodicals were collected in this volume. Many of them had been favourites with the public (though their auhorship was not generally known), had been reprinted many times, and claimed by several who had no title to them. Goldsmith made a profit of only twenty guineas on the publication, but it did extend his reputation, and was translated into French. This copy has the bookplate of Austin Dobson, 1840-1921, poet and man of letters. It is bound in calf by Zaehnsdorf.
STERNE, Laurence The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy, gentleman London: 1765-69 Hepburn 7-15 This is a made-up copy; volumes 1 and 2 are of the seventh edition, dated 1768-1769, volumes 3, 4 and 6 are a 'new edition', dated 1767, and volumes 7, 8 and 9 are of the first edition, dated 1765 and 1767. Volumes 7 and 9 have the author's signature 'L. Sterne' at the head of the first page of text, as in most copies of the first edition. Volumes 1 and 3 have frontispieces by Hogarth.
AUSTEN, Jane Pride and prejudice London: T. Egerton, 1813 Hepburn 67-69 Jane Austen wrote the first draft of Pride and prejudice between October 1796 and Augist 1797, when she was not yet twenty-one years old; it was originally entitled First impressions. This is a copy of the first edition which was issued in boards at eighteen shillings in January 1813. A second edition was printed in the same year and a third in 1817. The copyright had been sold to Egerton for £110.
LAMB, Charles Elia. Essays which have appeared under that signature in the London Magazine London: 1823 Hepburn 164 This is a copy of the second issue of the first edition, in the original boards. With one exception, the essays had all appeared in The London Magazine between August 1820 and November 1822. Lamb revised and edited the essays for this collection and deleted a number of passages. This copy bears the signature of Samuel Elliott Hoskins, 1799-1888, a physician who practised in the Channel Islands.
BYRON, George Gordon, Baron Byron Hours of idleness Newark: 1807 Hepburn 180 The smug self-effacement of Byron's preface to his early poems might have been sufficient to have caused the sarcastic and wholly unfavourable critique in the Edinburgh Review of January 1808. Despite his statement in the preface that he would 'submit without a murmer' to adverse criticism, his anger at the review caused Byron to revise the satire, British bards (published as English bards and Scotch reviewers), on which he was working and to add some lines on Francis Jeffrey, the supposed reviewer. (It was in fact Henry Brougham). According to T.J.Wise there are two 1807 editions of this collection of poems, and this is the second.
BYRON, George Gordon, Baron Byron The giaour, a fragment of a Turkish tale London: 1813 and The corsair, a tale London: 1814 Hepburn 173, 181 The sense of mingled guilt and exultation arising from his love affairs with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh, and Lady Frances Webster are reflected in the oriental tales Byron wrote during 1813 and 1814. The giaour was written in the spring and added to in the summer and autumn of 1813 when his amatory entanglements were becoming impossible to unravel and escape to the East was a recurrent note in his letters. The corsair, a gloomy and remorseful tale published a year later, sold 10,000 copies on the day of publication.
BYRON, George Gordon, Baron Byron The siege of Corinth. A poem and Parisina. A poem London: 1816 Hepburn 177 The siege of Corinth, written during the year of Byron's marriage, is an attempt to put into verse an episode in the siege and capture of the citadel from the Venetians by the Turks in 1715. There is none of the immediacy of feeling in this poem which is present in most of the oriental poems. Byron's writing had never been more careless. He had reverted to the octosyllable couplet but used it with great irregularity, with bad rhymes and halting rhythms. When Gifford, the publisher's reader, went over the manuscript, he was shocked by grammatical errors and bad taste in many of the lines. This is the first poem, along with Parisina, for which Byron accepted money from his publisher.
WORDSWORTH, William A letter to a friend of Robert Burns: occasioned by an intended republication of the account of the life of Burns, by Dr Currie London: 1816 Hepburn 273 In this pamphlet Wordsworth deals with the ethics of biography and book reviewing. It is a fiery defence of Burns against those who shuddered at his yielding to temptations which they were incapable of feeling. The friend was James Gray, a teacher in Dumfries Grammar School. This copy belonged to Sir Arthur Mitchell, 1826-1909, and has holograph notes by him.
DICKENS, Charles The posthumous papers of the Pickwick Club London: 1837 Hepburn 209 Like most of the novels of Charles Dickens, Pickwick was first issued in paper wrappers and in monthly parts. It was published in twenty numbers, bound in nineteen monthly parts between April 1836 and November 1837. The first edition in book form was printed from stereotypes of the original type settings as soon as the last of the parts had been issued. This copy has the engraved title dated 1837, with the mis-spelling 'Veller' on the signboard, seven plates by Robert Seymour, two by Robert William Buss (often called the 'suppressed plates') and thirty-four by 'Phiz' (Hablôt Knight Browne), without titles. Dickens was only twenty-four when he began to write Pickwick and Browne was not quite twenty-one when he began to illustrate it. By the fifth number it was a triumph and when the monthly issues were drawing to a close it was declared that Dickens had taken his place as the first of all English comic writers.
DICKENS, Charles The life and adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit London: 1844 Hepburn 208 This is a copy of the first edition in book form. It was originally issued in twenty numbers, bound in nineteen, between January 1843 and July 1844. There are forty plates etched on steel by Hablôt Knight Browne. Though Dickens considered this the best of his tales it was at first unpopular and gave much offence to American readers owing to the scenes laid in the United States which were considered as gross caricatures.
DICKENS, Charles Dombey and son London: 1848 Hepburn 206 Dombey was completed in twenty monthly parts, at one shilling each; the last two numbers being issued together in one wrapper, in April 1848. It was then published in one volume at a guinea, with etched frontispiece, engraved title page, and thirty-eight etchings by Hablôt Knight Browne. Dickens wrote: 'I have a strong belief, that, if any of my books are read years hence, Dombey will be remembered as among the best of them'. But according to Wilkie Collins: 'The latter half of Dombey no intelligent person can have read without astonishment at the badness of it.'
DICKENS, Charles Bleak House London: 1842-1853 Hepburn 186 The original nineteen monthly parts in blue printed paper wrappers, issued between March 1852, and September 1853. The last part contained two numbers, making twenty in all. Dickens first outlined the idea of an attack on the abuses of Chancery in two articles in Household Words for December 7 1850, and February 15 1851, entitled The martyrs of Chancery.
DICKENS, Charles Little Dorrit London: 1857 Hepburn 207 Little Dorrit was Dickens' greatest social satire but the background is luridly stagey. The illustrations reflect the melodramatic atmosphere, especially the eight 'dark' plates. The 'dark' effect was obtained by 'machine-tinting' the steels, which gave an effect equivalent to mezzo-tinting. The work was as usual issued first in twenty monthly parts, from December 1855 to June 1857, and the complete story was issued in June in one volume.
THACKERAY, William Makepeace Vanity Fair London: 1848 Hepburn 185 Vanity Fair was first published in nineteen monthly parts from January 1847 to July 1848. This is a copy of the first issue of the first edition in book form. It contains the suppressed woodcut of the Marquis of Steyne on page 336, the heading on page 1 is in rustic type, and on page 453 is the error 'Mr Pitt' for 'Sir Pitt'; it also includes the advertisement leaf preceding the frontispiece. This copy is bound in dark red morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe.
BROWNING, Robert Men and women London: 1855 Hepburn 19-20 These two octavo volumes, containing fifty poems and an epilogue, were published on November 17, 1855. They were the gleanings of the best ten years of Browning's life. His last volume of shorter poems had been published as Dramatic romances in November 1845. The next decade saw his marriage and removal to Italy, and towards the end of this period most of the poems in Men and women seem to have been written. This is Carter's primary binding (Binding variants p.98), though it is there described as having the decorated band at the top and bottom of the spine in gilt, whereas here it is in blind.
CARROLL, Lewis The Hunting of the Snark London: 1876 Hepburn 97 This has been called 'the Odyssey of Nonsensical', 'a masterpiece with more nonsense to the foot than could be found in an acre of lesser stuff.' It was reprinted seventeen times between 1876 and 1908. This first edition has nine illustrations by Henry Holiday engraved by Joseph Swain. 'Henry Holiday's illustrations for The hunting of the Snark in their decorative beauty carry on the true Pre-Raphaelite tradition, bringing it into the world of grotesque' - Forrest Reid.
CARROLL, Lewis Through the looking-glass, and what Alice found there London: 1872 Hepburn 99 This is a copy of the first edition, whih was uniform with the second edition of Alice in Wonderland. The book was issued in December 1871, but all copies are dated 1872. It was an immediate success and reached its thirteenth thousand in the same year. The original title was Looking-glass House and what Alice found there and Dodgson had intended publishing it under that title in 1870. Books of Scottish Interest
JAMES I, King of Great Britain Workes London: 1616 Hepburn q25 The first edition; the editor was James Montague, Bishop of Winchester. In 1620 two further works were printed with continuing pagination and register so that they might be added to existing copies. This copy includes the supplement. The engraved title-page by Renold Elstrack was his principal achievement in the way of decorative design. There are also portraits of James I and Charles I as Prince of Wales engraved by Simon van de Passe. This is the Earl of Derby's copy, with his bookplate.
UDALL, William The historie of the life and death of Mary Stuart Queene of Scotland London: 1636 Hepburn 3 This is the 1636 duodecimo edition of William Udall's history of Mary, Queen of Scots. Unlike George Buchanan who was 'carried away with partiall affection and with the gifts of Murrey' when he wrote his Detectioun, Udall aims to present the truth as far as he can ascertain it 'without any hate or love'. He is impartial at least to the extent of attacking neither Mary nor Elizabeth, but he does tend to gloss over events which could reflect badly on either, attributing blame rather to the Queens' advisers, and his portrait of Darnley, James I's father, as a man 'of a most milde nature, and sweet behaviour' who becomes the tool of the unscrupulous Moray and Morton and is then murdered at their instigation by Bothwell is, if inaccurate, at least tactful. This edition has the rare portrait of the Queen and an engraved title-page containing views of Edinburgh and London by William Marshall.
VIRGIL Virgil's Aeneis translated into Scottish verse by Gawin Douglas Edinburgh: 1710 Hepburn q24 Gawin Douglas's translation of the Aeneid was first published at London in 1553. It was the first metrical translation; Caxton had published a prose version in 1490. Ezra Pound claimed that Douglas's Aeneid was a better poem than Virgil's because Douglas 'had heard the sea'. Thomas Ruddiman superintended the work of preparing this new edition, corrected the press, and wrote the 'large glossary, explaining the difficult words.' For these labours he received £8.6.8. The life of Gawin Douglas which prefixes the work was written by Bishop John Sage. This copy belonged to John Jamieson, 1759-1838, compiler of the Etymological dictionary of the Scottish language, and contains marginal notes in his hand. It also bears the ownership inscription of David Macpherson, 1746-1816, historian and compiler, and the bookplate of William Bell Scott, 1811-1890, poet and painter.
BURNS, Robert Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect Edinburgh: 1787 Hepburn 183 This is a copy of the second issue of the first Edinburgh edition, with the misprint 'stinking' for 'skinking' on page 263. It is inscribed by Burns on the title-page: 'To Mr Smellie, with the Author's Compliments.' William Smellie, 1740-1795, was an Edinburgh printer, naturalist, and antiquary; he printed this edition of Burns' Poems although his name does not appear in the imprint. The volume also contains an inserted portrait of Smellie and the bookplate of Smellie's son, William, dated 1817.
SHIRREFS, Andrew Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect Edinburgh: 1790 Hepburn 184 Andrew Shirrefs, termed by Burns 'a little decrepid body with some abilities', was a poet and musician, and also a printer, bookseller and bookbinder in Aberdeen. In 1786 he published, under the patronage of David, Earl of Buchan, a collection of Forty pieces of original music of his own composition, and in 1787, Jamie and Bess, a Scots pastoral comedy in imitation of The gentle shepherd was 'printed and sold by the author'. This comedy was performed at Aberdeen in 1788 and at Edinburgh in 1796. It is included in the present collection, as also is his well-known Shop-bill, which is interesting for the account it gives of his stock, but his verses are all quite devoid of poetic merit.
BUCHAN, Peter An historical and authentic account of the ancient and noble family of Keith Peterhead: 1820 Hepburn 302 Peter Buchan, 1790-1854, was the first printer in Peterhead. He started his printing press, which he called the Auchmeddan Press, in 1816. In 1819 he invented, and constructed with his own hands, a printing press on an original plan to be worked with the feet, and provided with an index which showed the number of sheets worked off. As well as being a printer, he was author, editor, publisher and engraver, but he was chiefly famous as a collector of old ballads of the north of Scotland, and his work in this field earned him the friendship of men like Sir Walter Scott, Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, William Motherwell, and David Laing. The present work was written and printed by Buchan and has an engraving by him. This copy is in the original boards and has the bookplate of Cluny Castle Library.
MOIR, David Macbeth The life of Mansie Wauch, tailor in Dalkeith. Written by himself Edinburgh: 1828 Hepburn 119 David Macbeth Moir, 1798-1851, a native of Musselburgh, studied medicine at Edinburgh University, obtained a surgeon's diploma when eighteen years of age, and for the rest of his life practised as a doctor during the day and wrote prose and poetry by night. The life of Mansie Wauch was published serially in Blackwood's Magazine for nearly three years beginning in 1824, and was generally attributed Moir's friend John Galt. It was so popular that eight editions wre published in Great Britain, and it was reprinted in America and France.
SCOTT Sir Walter Anne of Geierstein Edinburgh: 1829 Hepburn 223-225 A copy of the first edition in the original drab paper boards with printed paper labels on spines. In vol. II, P6, the final leaf, is pasted down inside cover, and L12 in the same volume is a cancel. The final leaf of vol. III, Q12, contains publisher's advertisements, including new editions of Waverley, The Fair Maid of Perth and Tales of a Grandfather (first and second series). This is one of six Scott first editions on the collection.
HOGG, James A queer book Edinburgh: 1832 Hepburn 90 James Hogg, 1770-1835, known as 'the Ettrick Shepherd', was born in Selkirkshire, the descendent of generations of shepherds. A self-taught man, he became the friend of Scott, Wordsworth, Southey and Professor John Wilson, and published a number of volumes of poetry and fiction. He is now chiefly remembered for his novel The confessions of a justified sinner, and his poem Kimery. In 1832, when A queer book was published, he visited London where he was 'the observed of all observers' and was honoured with a public dinner.
MACLEAN, John Historical and traditional sketches of Highland families, and of the Highlands Dingwall: 1848 Hepburn 304 John Maclean was one hundred and one years old when this book was published. He was born in Inverness and had lived there all his life. His knowledge was based on oral traditions handed down for centuries and it was said of him that 'by dint of powerful recollection in his own person' he had eclipsed the work of the Maitland and Spalding Clubs and many antiquarian individuals.
STEVENSON, Robert Louis A child's garden of verses London: 1885 Hepburn 96 Stevenson began to write verses for children in the summer of 1881. It is said that he at first considered publishing a collection of these poems under the title Nursery Verses. In 1883 he had forty-eight poems for children printed in a pamphlet entitled Penny Whistles; thirty-nine of the poems eventually published in A child's garden of verses first appeared there.
CROCKETT, Samuel Rutherford The playactress London: 1894 Hepburn 145 Crockett was born in Kirkcudbrightshire in 1860, was educated at Edinburgh University and New College, Edinburgh, and in 1886 became minister of the Free Church at Penicuik. In 1894 he published two romances, The Raiders and The lilac sunbonnet, which were both so rousingly received that he retired from the ministry and devoted all his time to writing. In less than twenty years he published more than forty titles, mostly novels, but his literary reputation fell into rapid decline even during his lifetime, and he is remembered now only for his chronicles of Galloway, his 'little fatherland'. This copy is bound in light blue morocco by Rivière & Son. It is inscribed: To William Wallace of 'St Serfs' & 'Carricktown' from S.R. Crockett a lad frae Gallowa' Dec. 25. 1894. Greeting and forward!
CROCKETT, Samuel Rutherford Valete, fratres! Edinburgh: 1886 Hepburn 151 This poem was written by Crockett to his fellow-students at the end of his theological course in New College, Edinburgh. He had already published a volume of poems entitled Dulce cor and the present work is described, no doubt by way of advertisement, as 'by the author of Dulce cor.' This copy is inscribed by Crockett: To Nell from 'The Raider'. 'Nell' was probably Helen Fairley Laurie of Queen Street Manse, Castle Douglas, an old friend of Crockett's. This is one of six copies of his works similarly inscribed in the collection. Illustrated Books
GILPIN, William Observations, relative chiefly to picturesque beauty, made in the year 1776, on several parts of Great Britain; particularly the Highlands of Scotland London: 1789 Hepburn 210-211 The Rev. William Gilpin kept a school at Cheam for a time and during the summer vacations he made several sketching tours about which he wrote guide-books exploiting the picturesque and purporting to show all the right views to admire. They were illustrated wih aquatint engravings, poor in character and washed over with a brown or yellow tone which gives them a faded and sickly appearance. These volumes contain forty plates, thirty-five of which are aquatints and the rest soft ground etchings. Volume I has a fore-edge painting of Dunrobin Castle, while Volume II has one of Glasgow Cathedral.
ACKERMANN, Rudolph Ninety plates from Ackermann's Repository of arts, literature, commerce, manufactures, fashions and politics London: 1810-1827 Hepburn q3 The Repository of arts was published as a monthly magazine from 1809 to 1828. It was a remarkable publication including several works which were reprinted later in book form, and there was hardly a subject which it did not deal with. It was illustrated with every form of engraving, woodcut, line, stipple, and, after 1817, with lithographs, while the number of coloured aquatints was throughout very considerable. The coloured plates here are all of furniture or interiors. COMBE, William The English Dance of Death London: 1815-16 Hepburn q4-5 This work was a co-operative venture produced by William Combe, Thomas Rowlandson, and Rudolph Ackermann. Combe wrote the verses, Rowlandson provided the illustrations, which are by far the most important part of the book, while Ackermann was the promoter, publisher and sole financial backer. The English Dance of Death was Rowlandson's last major work.
DANIELL, William Illustrations of the Island of Staffa London: 1818 Hepburn q52 These nine coloured aquatints appeared in Volume III of Daniell's A voyage round Great Britain, also published in 1818. They were published separately for the benefit of those interested in geology, or particularly interested in Staffa, who might not wish to purchase the larger work. The plates, all drawn and engraved by Daniell, are unsurpassed both in delicacy of drawing and tinting. William Daniell, 1769-1837, produced several important books, sometimes in collaboration with his uncle, Thomas Daniell, who was also a landscape painter.
EGAN, Pierce Life in London London: 1823 Hepburn 264 Pierce Egan, 1772-1849, journalist and author, the patron of prize fights and creator of Tom and Jerry, was an ardent believer in pugilism and country sports. Life in London was one of the great successes of the day. First published in 1821, it was reprinted in 1822, 1823, 1830, 1841, 1870 and 1904. A French translation appeared at Paris in 1823, a Key to the book, with a 'Vocabulary of flach and cant', was published a Edinburgh, and the burletta founded on the book and acted at Sadler's Wells was also a success. Its chief interest now lies in the thirty-six coloured aquatints and the woodcut vignettes in the text by George and Robert Cruikshank which illustrate it.
CAREY, David Life in Paris London: 1822 Hepburn 263 David Carey, 1782-1824, journalist and poet, was the son of a manufacturer in Arbroath. From 1807 to 1812 he was the editor of the Inverness Journal. Most of his working life was spent in London, but a visit to Paris in 1822 supplied him with material for Life in Paris, one of the many imitations of Egan's Life in London. It is illustrated by twenty-one coloured aquatints and twenty-two engravings on wood by George Cruikshank, whose knowledge of France was confined to one day spent a Boulogne.
BARHAM, Richard Harris The Ingoldsby legends London: 1840-1847 Hepburn 252-254 Volume I is a copy of Sadleir's 156c, the second issue of the public edition, with p.236 blank and the inserted slip 'To the critical reader'. Richard Harris Barham, 1788-1845, Rector of St Augustine's and St Faith, London, was better known by the literary name of Thomas Ingoldsby. His Ingoldsby Legends were contributed to Bentley's Miscellany and later collected in volumes. There are seventeen etchings in the three volumes, eight by George Cruikshank, eight by John Leech, and one by R.W. Buss after Dalton Barham.
BIBLE. N.T. Gospels. Selections. Maxims and precepts of the Saviour [London: 1848] Hepburn 53 This book contains thirty-two pages illuminated by Noel Humphreys, chromolithographed in up to about twelve colours. Humphreys used the precepts 'Behold the fowls of the air' and 'Consider the lilies of the field' as a theme for his borders, into which he introduced some of the brilliantly coloured birds and flowers which had only recently been discovered. The cover is in 'opus anglicum' style with a design in hand painted colours on paper, heavily embossed, and pasted on bevilled boards.
SURTEES, Robert Smith Mr Sponge's sporting tour London: 1853 Hepburn 158 Surtees, 1803-1864, who belonged to a north country family, had for a time practised in London as a solicitor. For years an occasional contributor to sporting periodicals, he was the first editor of The new sporting magazine, in which appeared the drafts of some of his work afterwards published in book form. Only in later life did he become a country gentleman, a Major of Militia and a Justice of Peace. Mr Sponge's sporting tour first appeared, without illustrations, in The new monthly magazine and humorist from January 1849 to April 1851. It was issued 1852-553 in thirteen monthly parts, undated, with thirteen coloured etchings and wood-engravings in the text by John Leech, and was published in one volume in 1853.
SURTEES, Robert Smith Handley Cross London: 1854 Hepburn 157 Handley Cross appeared monthly, without illustrations, in The new sporting magazine, as Gin-and-water hunt, from March to June 1838, when the title was changed to The Handley-Cross hounds, and thereafter irregularly till August 1839. In 1843 it was published in three volumes, again without illustrations. The illustrated version, with a considerably expanded narrative, was published in seventeen monthly parts from March 1853 to October 1854 (no issues in December, May and July) with seventeen coloured etchings and wood-engravings in the text by John Leech. Three issues in volume form appeared in 1854; this is a copy of the second issue. The book was at first a failure but later it became the author's most popular work, and it now ranks as a sporting classic.
SURTEES, Robert Smith Ask Mamma London: 1858 Hepburn 159 First published in thirteen monthly parts in 1857-58, this was the first edition in volume form. There are thirteen coloured etchings and sixty-nine wood-engravings in the text by John Leech. It was Thackeray who introduced Surtees to Leech, whose best book illustrations were those executed for Surtees' novels. He was one of a group of artists who illustrated sporting books at this time, mainly by etching, and he also contributed many drawings to Punch and other magazines.
SURTEES, Robert Smith Plain or ringlets? London: 1860 Hepburn 160 Issued in thirteen monthly parts in 1859-60, with thirteen coloured etchings, including title, and wood-engravings in text by John Leech. This is a copy of the first edition in volume form. Etched illustrations were normally inserted as 'plates': there was no attempt to achieve harmony between them and the text pages. When smaller illustrations were required on the text pages they had to be engraved on wood, which could be printed with the type.
SURTEES, Robert Smith Mr Facey Romford's hounds London: 1865 Hepburn 161 Originally issued in twelve monthly parts from May 1864 to April 1865, with twenty-four coloured plates, fourteen by John Leech and ten by Hablôt K. Browne. Surtees and Leech both died before the book was published. These five volumes by Surtees are uniformly bound by Zaehnsdorf in half morocco with sporting symbols on the spines.
MORRIS, Francis Orpen A history of British birds London:[1863-67] Hepburn 76-83 Francis Orpen Morris's History of British birds was originally published in monthly parts over a period of seven years, the first part appearing on 1 June 1850. Each part cost one shilling and contained descriptions of four birds. It was immediately popular: it was the first work of its kind which had been produced at a price which placed it within the reach of all classes, the hand-coloured plates were carefully engraved by Benjamin Fawcett (a bookseller and printer who first made a name for himself by bringing out illustrated books for children), and it was written not as a dry scientific treatise but in a lively, natural style which reflected the author's own love for birds and his constant observations of their ways and habits. He always emphasized that the aim of the undertaking was to create, if possible, a greater taste and love for the natural history of British birds.
KIPLING, Rudyard A song of the English London: [1909] Hepburn q36 This is number 189 of a de-luxe, large paper issue, limited to 500 copies, signed by the artist, William Heath Robinson. It is bound in vellum with designs in green, red and gold on front cover and spine. There are thirty coloured illustrations and numerous black and white illustrations in the text. William Heath Robinson, 1872-1944, was born in Islington. His grandfather was a wood engraver, his father and uncle were artists well known in their time, and his brothers, Charles and Thomas, were also artists. He illustrated a number of books and also contributed many drawings to magazines.
ARABIAN NIGHTS. Stories from the Arabian Nights retold by Laurence Housman. With drawings by Edmund Dulac London: 1907 Hepburn q16 Edmund Dulac, 1882-1953, was born in Toulouse, attended the University and the Art School there, and exhibited portraits at the Paris Salon in 1904-05. He had yearly shows at the Leicester Gallery, London, from 1907 to 1918, and in 1912 he became a British citizen. He painted portraits and caricatures, designed stage settings and costumes, modelled the King's Poetry Prize Medal, designed stamps and illustrated a number of books. Most of the books he illustrated were 'gift books', like this one, with coloured illustrations printed on art paper and protected by tissues. His work depended a great deal on colour and was often reminiscent of Persian miniatures. This is one of an edition of 350 copies, numbered and signed by the artist.
STEVENSON, Robert Louis Fables. Illustrated by E.R. Herman London: 1914 Hepburn q37 Fables originally appeared in Longman's Magazine during August and September 1895. They were first published in book form along with The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in 1896, and were first published separately in book form in 1902. This is a copy of a large paper issue which was limited to 150 numbered copies. It is bound in the original Japan paper wrappers.
WEST, Dame Rebecca The modern 'Rake's progress'; words by Rebecca West, paintings by David Low London: 1934 Hepburn q19 This series of coloured drawings by David Low (1891-1963) was originally published in Nash's Pall Mall Magazine and is here published for the first time in book form with Rebecca West's description of the adventures of the bank clerk who inherits a peerage and a fortune. In his portrayal of this modern rake's progress, Low observes and records the types of contemporary society with accuracy and malice; his portraits of young women are particularly mordant. The vigorous and uncompromising satire of Low's drawings was quite exceptional among the work of the cartoonists of his time; he gave back to English caricature some of the vitality and irreverance which had been lacking since the early 19th century.
CARROLL, Lewis The hunting of the snark. Illustrated by Mervyn Peake London: 1948 Hepburn 98 Mervyn Peake, 1911-1968, was poet, novelist, painter, playwright and illustrator. He began as a painter but turned to book illustration during a sojourn in the Forces, largely because there was not enough room for painting. The illustrations to The hunting of the Snark were among his best works. They gave range to his sense of grotesquerie and fantasy, yet he aptly interpreted Carroll's solemn nonsense. Private Press Books
HOMER The Iliad [London] The Nonesuch Press: 1931 Hepburn q12 The Greek text, with Alexander Pope's translation; decorated by Rudolph Koch with figurines cast as type ornaments. 1450 copies were printed from hand-set type. The founts used were Antigone Greek and Cochin. The Nonesuch Press was founded in london in 1923 by Sir Francis Meynell, Vera Mendel and David Garnett, with the aim of adapting mechanical methods to the produciton of finely made books which were to be sold at modest cost through normal trade channels. Sir Francis prepared the desings and layout of each work.
MALORY, Sir Thomas The noble and joyous boke entytled Le morte Darthur Oxford: Shakespeare Head Press, 1933 Hepburn q10-11 370 copies were printed, of which 350 were for sale. The setting was from the unique copy of the edition printed by Wynyn de Worde at Westminster in 1498, now in the John Rylands Library at Manchester. The Shakespeare Head Press was established by Arthur Henry Bullen at Stratford-on-Avon in 1904. In 1921, after Bullen's death, the Press was purchased by a group of men assocaited with Basil Blackwell, the Oxford bookseller, and Bernard Henry Newdigate was engaged to supervise printing and production. In 1930 the plant was moved to Oxford.
BOCCACCIO, Giovanni The Decameron Oxford: Shakespeare Head Press, 1934-45 Hepburn q13-14 The text was prepared from that of the first English translation, printed by Isaac Jaggard for Matthew Lownes in 1625, and compared with the first edition of 1620. The wood engravings were recut by R.J. Beedham and E. Joyce Francis from those in the edition printed by the brothers Gergorii at Venice in 1492. Fine Bookbindings
SCOTT, Sir Walter The lay of the last minstrel Twelfth edition London: 1811 Hepburn 168 This copy was presented to John Hamill as a prize at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1811. It is in a contemporary Dublin binding, probably the work of George Mullen, with the arms of Dublin University stamped on the sides.
TENNYSON, Alfred, Baron Tennyson Gareth and Lynette, etc London: 1872 Hepburn 16 This is a copy of the first edition. It contains The last tournament as well as Gareth and Lynette, and these two idylls were included in the edition of The idylls of the King which was published in 1873. A signed binding by James Hayday, in dark green morocco, gold tooled with small sprays and flowers. Hayday was a London binder whose name first appeared in the directories in 1825 and who died in 1876, aged 72.
DE QUINCEY, Thomas Confessions of an English opium-eater London: 1822 Hepburn 4 First edition, bound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe in dark blue morocco with red and green strap work and gold tooling, inlaid with mother-of-pearl on front cover. Gilt panel spine with red strap work, doublures of light brown morocco, silk endleaves. Francis Sangorski and George Sutcliffe were apprenticed to Charles Ferris and Mudie's Library respectively. After winning L.C.C. scholarships to the Central School of Arts and Crafts where they came under the tuition of Douglas Cockerell, they entered Cockerell's employ in 1899, Sangorski as a forwarder, Sutcliffe as a finisher. They established their own firm in 1901, which became the leading firm of hand binders in England.
FERGUSSON, Robert Poems Edinburgh: 1773 Hepburn 18 Binding designed by T.J. Cobden-Sanderson and executed at the Doves Bindery in 1897. Cobden-Sanderson's bindings were all executed between July 1884 and March 1893; after the Doves Bindery was opened in March 1893 he bound no book personally though he made designs for the bindery and carefully supervised its work. The volume alsao has a fore-edge painting, showing a butterfly in the centre, a scroll with the words 'Poor butterfly, thy case I mourn' and views of town and country in the background.
BULLEN, Arthur Henry, editor Speculum amantis and Musa proterva Privately printed: 1902 Hepburn 166, 167 These two volumes are uniformly bound by Zaehsndorf in light green morocco, sides tooled in gold with leafy sprays and Passion flowers; green marbled endleaves with pink and red flowers. The firm of Zaehnsdorf was founded by the Hungarian born Joseph Zaehnsdorf (1816-1886) who studied in Stuttgart and Vienna and then established an atelier in London in 1842. He gained a considerable reputation and was binder to the great libraries of England. The firm continued to prosper under his son Joseph William Zaehensdorf, who was acknowledged head of his profession by the end of the nineteenth century and was bookbinder by appointment to Edward VII as both Prince of Wales and King. In 1913 the firm became a private company and in 1920 Joseph William Zaehensdorf retired from active participation in favour of his son Ernest who controlled it until the end of the Second World War.
ARNOLD, Matthew Selected poems London: 1918 Hepburn 5 Bound in dark blue morocco by Ramage of London, gold tooled with a design of carnations, with dark red morocco onlays for the petals, and a semis of tiny stars; turn-ins tooled with leaves and sprays; cream watered silk endleaves.
TENNYSON, Alfred, Baron Tennyson Works London: 1896 Hepburn 108 Presentation copy, bound by Ramage of London in vellum tooled in gold with butterflies, with green and gold wings onlaid; turn-ins tooled in gold with a pattern of shells; very pale marbled endpapers.
TENNYSON, Alfred, Baron Tennyson Poems by two brothers London: 1893 Hepburn q17 This was Tennyson's first book of poems 'written from the ages of fifteen to eighteen' with his brothers, Charles and Frederick. The first edition was published in 1827; this is a copy of the second edition, which was limited to 300 copies. Vellum binding designed and painted in 1901 by D.Y. Cameron, according to a holograph note pasted down inside the front cover. Return to main exhibitions page
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