A Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors of England, With Lists of their Works... The Second Edition, corrected and enlarged.
1759. London: Printed for R. and J. Dodsley, 1759.
2 vols. 8vo, [vi], viii, [2], 247, [3, index]; [2], 250, [6] pp. engraved frontispiece and engraved plate of music opposite page 202 in volume 1. Contemporary red sheepskin, backstrips ornately gilt with thistle motif in compartments, olivo morocco labels. Joints a bit rubbed and worn but sound, slight chips to backstrip crowns, corners slightly worn, front free endpaper in each vol. partly detached, but an attractive set with the contemporary ownership inscription in both vols. "P. Griffin St. Edmund Hall Oxon."
§ Second edition. Walpole first published his catalogue in 1758 at his Strawberry Hill Press, and in the same year sold the copyright to Dodsley, who published this enlarged edition. Contemporary reviewers criticized weaknesses in Walpole's scholarship and his Whig bias but the work was nevertheless much read and discussed. Today it is perhaps all the more enjoyable for his slightly gossipy accounts of the lives and works of both well known and forgotten British authors. The authors are arranged chronologically; in the indexes they are grouped into Noble Authors, Peeresses, Scots Authors, and Irish Peers. Item #125125
Price: $695.00