Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$962.00 + shipping
Description: [bound with:]GAY, John. Polly: an Opera. Being the second Part of the Beggar's Opera London, for the Author. 1729. [and with:]GAY, John. Fables London, J.Tonson and J.Watts. 1727. [and with:]GAY, John. Fables Volume the second. London, J.and P.Knapton and T.Cox, 1738. Four works in one volume, 4to, pp.[8], 60, 46 [engraved music]; pp.[2], vii, [1], 72, 31 [engraved music], [1]; pp.[14], 173, [1], with a title-page vignette and 51 engraved illustrations after William Kent and John Wootton; pp.[8], 155, with an engraved frontispiece, engraved title-page vignette, and sixteen engraved plates by Gravelot after Scotin; very good, clean copies in contemporary calf, neatly rebacked; ownership inscription dated 1810 of Henry White of Lichfield (17611836), partly obscured by a nineteenth-century bookplate (Bellairs of Lincolnshire).Third (and only quarto) edition of The Beggar's Opera, printed in this format to match the first edition of the sequel Polly. Though Gay's lasting fame rests on The Beggar's Opera, in his own time it was sustained by his much reprinted Fables, here found in the first editions of both parts.Henry White was a friend of Samuel Johnson; his valuable library was sold before his death.Foxon, p.295; Rothschild 295. Language: English
Seller: Bernard Quaritch Ltd ABA ILAB, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$1750.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 4to. 26 by 20 cm. [14], 173, [9], 155 pp. Armorial bookplates of Bradby-Hall. Both volumes with considerable wear to calf binding, with some scratches, rubbing of joints, etc. Vol. 1 with some rippling of leaves, and scattered soiling, but never in our view disconcerting or problematic. Vol. 2 blank leaves in front and back chewed along edges. Also rippling and minor soil -- overall, other than blanks, a fresher looking volume than the first. Chemises with ribbon pulls. No issues with chemises. Slipcase has a few minor gouges on morocco, but overall solid, slipcase, and one with an attractive shelf presence. Gilt dating on the slipcase gives the date of the first volume erroneously as 1737, when in fact it was 1727. Full Calf. Slipcase: Quarter Morocco. Two chemises: cloth.
Seller: White Fox Rare Books, ABAA/ILAB, New York, NY, U.S.A.
John Gay. Fables. J. Tonson and J. Watts, 1727.
Price: US$2565.35 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First Edition. The large paper, or quarto, issues. Livre bien illustrate - Cohen-De Ricci. Two Volumes. Small 4to (24.5 * 20 cm.) Fables, Vol I, Printed for J. Tonson and J. Watts (London), 1727, pp. (xiv), 173, vignette title & 51 copper-plate vignettes engraved by Fourdrinier, Van der Bucht & Baron after Kent, Wooton & Motte. Fables, Vol II, Printed for J. and P. Kanpton and T. Cox (London), 1738, pp. (Viii), 155, frontispiece, vignette title & 16 full-page illustrations engraved by Scotin after Gravelot. Exquisitely bound in full crushed morocco by Riviere & Sons, the spines & dentelles richly gilt, rich purple endpapers. A little rubbing to the bindings, otherwise a fine copy, presenting beautifully on the shelf. The Fables of Gay have ever been esteemed for their easy flow of versification for their wit and humour and for containing a considerable portion of moral and worldly instruction. They are not, however, without a very considerable portion of alloy. (Plumtre, 1823, iii). These volumes have notable provenance, containing the engraved bookplates of Frank Brewer-Bemis (1861-1935), a Boston Banker, noted bibliophile and art collector. Bemis amassed a fine collection of British and American works, most notably including all four William Shakespeare folios. The bookplate was designed by Sidney Lawton Smith. The central panel of the bookplate contains a view of Bemis Library at Beverly Farms, Massachusetss. The inscription at the foot of the bookplate reads Three things to me God lends, Old Pace, Old Books, Old Friends. (Boston Athenaeum Museum.) Please contact us for shipping costs if ordering from outside the UK.
Seller: GEORGE HANCOCK RARE BOOKS PBFA, BATH, United Kingdom
John Gay. Fables; Volumes 1 and 2. J. Tonson / J. Knapton, London, 1727.
Price: US$2747.31 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First editions of both parts 1727 / 1738. Finely bound in modern Cambridge panel calf. Original bookplates preserved on end papers. Small 4to, large paper copy. Engravings by Scotin after Gravelot.
Seller: Temple Bar Bookshop, Dublin, DUB, Ireland