Original Stories from Real Life... plates only.
1791. London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1791.
All 6 engraved plates (complete). 133 x 74 mm. or so, trimmed retaining the top edge text but lacking the imprint below the footer title. Cleaned, in very good condition.
§ First edition, first state of plates 3-6; second state of plates 1 and 2. A very attractive set of these plates designed and engraved by Blake for Johnson. William Blake’s characteristic illustrations, reminiscent in iconography to his designs for his own Songs of Innocence (1789). This collection of didactic tales for youth, in part reinforcing the lessons of Wollstonecraft’s first book, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, proved her most popular book, going through five editions by 1800. Windle, Bibliography of Mary Wollstonecraft, A3b. Bentley, Blake Books, 514A. Easson and Essick, vol. I, no. III. Item #107312
Price: $3,000.00