The Works of Samuel Johnson. A New Edition in Twelve Volumes. With An Essay on His Life and Genius By Arthur Murphy. London: Printed by Nicholas and Son for H. Baldwin, J. Johnson, et. al. 1801.
-------------------
A beautiful and quite early set of the works of Samuel Johnson, finely bound in uniform half calf over marbled boards.
-------------------
Provenance:
Bookplate of John William Pease (1836-1901), a member of the famous Pease family. They were "one of the great Quaker industrialist families of the nineteenth century, who played a leading role in philanthropic and humanitarian interests." They were heavily involved in woollen manufacturing, banking, railways, locomotives, mining, and politics.
Notable events in their history include; their support of abolitionism; the founding of the Peace Society in 1816; the establishment of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the 1820s and its later absorption into the North Eastern Railway; the establishment of Robert Stephenson and Company in 1823; the purchase and development of Middlesbrough from 1830; the abolition of bear-baiting and cockfighting through 'Pease's Act' (the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835); a bid to avert the Crimean War through personal interview with Czar Nicholas in 1854; the building of Hutton Hall in 1866; the establishment of The Northern Echo newspaper in 1870; the assembly of an important art collection, and the failure of the family bank in 1902. The latter forced several of them close to bankruptcy. Nine members of the family were Members of Parliament, including the first Quaker Member of Parliament.
Bookplate of 'hb' with the motto Pax et Spes ('Peace and Hope') and a crown within a star of Lakshmi.
-------------------
Size: 139 x 216 mm (approx., each)
Condition:
[vi, i, pp.1-187, [1]-215]; [iv, i, pp.1-438]; [iv, pp.1-442]; [vi, pp.1-446]; [vi, pp.1-443]; [v, pp.1-397]; [vi, pp.1-410], [iii, pp.1-416]; [iii, pp.1-460]; [iii, pp.1-404]; [iii, pp.1-389]; [iv, pp.1-450, 2g2-2m7 (index)]
Uniform half calf over marbled boards. The set shows very attractively on the shelf with bright gilt. Some loss to the backstrips, chipped, with a few pieces at some time reglued. Shelf wear. Lower joint split of front board to volumes 8-9; 12, with all of the boards still attached. Volume 12 with a shelf lean but remains standing when placed singularly. Half titles in volumes one and 7 only. First blank in volume 1 partially detached but present. Heavy dampstaining to the edges of the first few leaves in volumes 1-3, 7-8, much lighter in the other volumes but still with some dampstaining through the volumes of the set which is visible at the page edges. Mildly toned text blocks.
