The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote. Translated from the Spanish of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Some Account of the Author's Life. By T. Smollett, M.D. Illustrated with Twelve New Copper-Plates, Elegantly Engraved. The Sixth Edition, in Four Volumes. London: Printed for F. and C. Rivington, et al., MDCCXCII (1792).
-------------------
A fantastic 18th century example of Cervantes' Don Quixote, the famous Tobias Smollett edition, here complete in four volumes, and beautifully illustrated as pictured. A lovely set, very scarce in anything resembling acceptable condition in contemporary bindings and thus this set is a rarity.
-------------------
Size: 110 x 179 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[frontis, t.p., i-xl, 293pp.]; [frontis, t.p., 314pp.]; [frontis, t.p., i-xi, 331pp.]; [frontis, t.p., 322pp.]
Contemporary full marbled calf bindings, the spine divided into compartments with gilt with faded gilt volume numbers and now lacking tooled labels. Spines uniformly sunned but remain attractive on the shelf. Joints a little rubbed, but with all boards securely attached, the bindings secure, and without shelf lean. Bindings similarly rubbed, with minor loss at extremities of backstrips, all sewn head/tail pieces preserved. Top page edges uniformly dulled as typical. Shelf and edge wear. Endpapers edge toned as commensurate with the bindings. Without any attached bookplates but with the now erased and illegible ink ownership inscription to ffep in all volumes except vol 2. Light pencil inscription to head of second blank in first volume. Text blocks generally reasonably clean throughout, some minor foxing, a little heavier at endpapers / the ends of the text blocks as typical, but the full text is legible. All twelve plates including the frontispieces are present, each volume with its frontispiece, four plates in volume one, three plates in volume three, and one plate in volume four. Leaf H6 in vol II with a tear to the bottom corner, small loss but without loss of sense to the text.
A lovely set of a work very scarcely encountered in nice contemporary bindings.
[OCLC 5762394].
