Cruikshank, George.

The Comic Almanack. First Series [and] Second Series.

London: Chatto and Windus, 1835-1843 [and] 1844-1853.

2 vols. 8vo, 388; 428, [32, ads] pp. Bound alike in publisher's green cloth lettered and illustrated in gilt on upper boards and backstrips. Occasional scattered foxing, vol. 2 cracked in places with two plates now detached, but overall in remarkably fresh and tidy condition for two such ambitiously large volumes.

§ An attractive set in the original cloth of an early combined printing of the first and second series of the Comic Almanack, first issued in nineteen annual parts between 1835 and 1853. (See Cohen 184.) The most important of a number of comic almanacks which from the late Regency period parodied and subverted the popular almanack genre to poke fun at their educational aspirations and at society at large. Contributing authors included Thackeray, the Brothers Mayhew, Robert Brough, and Gilbert A'Beckett, but the success of the Comic Almanack rested principally on the illustrations and editorial talents of George Cruikshank. This celebratory edition, which include the folding plates of the later issues, show the extraordinary and ongoing appeal of what was supposed to have been an ephemeral production. Item #126308

Price: $975.00