The Works of Samuel Johnson, Ll.D., together with his Life and Notes on The Lives of the Poets by...In Eleven Volumes (incomplete); Debates in Parliament (Two Volumes); and Volume 14 (11 total volumes)
London: Printed for J. Buckland, and others, 1787-1788. First. Hardcover. All bindings match: Brown, full leather with gilt tooling around edges of covers and dentils inside cover edges. Spines have lost all traces of lettering and titling. Includes Vol. 1 (1787, with engraved frontispiece, ffep torn out, 602 pp, followed by 15 pp. index and 1 pp. errata, front cover off, rear cover barely holding on); Volume 3 (1787, The Lives of The Most Eminent English Poets continued., 418 pp., both covers attached but with weak hinges BOOKPLATE); Volume 4 (1787, The Lives of The Most Eminent English Poets continued, 637 pp., front cover and ffep off and rear cover on but weak BOOKPLATE); Volume 5 (1787, The Rambler, 3 pp. Contents, errata, 446 pp., cover attached but hinges weak, BOOKPLATE); Volume 6 (1787, Continuation of The Rambler, 3 pp. Contents, 443 pp., covers attached but hinges weak, BOOKPLATE); Volume 8 (1787, The Idler, 3 pp. COntents, 410 pp., covers attached but weak); Volume 9 (1787, The Adventurer (and) Philological Tracts, 2 pp. Contents, 446 pp., covers attached, BOOKPLATE); Volume 11 (1787, Tales and Visions. A History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (and) Poems (and) Miscellaneous Poems, 4 pp. Contents, 430 pp. followed by 90 pp. of Index and Errata in Index, covers strong VARIANT BOOKPLATE); Volume 12 (1787, printed for John Stockdale, xv, (1), Debates in Parliament, Volume I, 394 pp., covers on, VARIANT BOOKPLATE); Volume 13 (1787), Debates in Parliament, Volume 2, printed for John Stockdale , Contents, References to Speakers, 516 pp., covers on but hinges weak, VARIANT BOOKPLATE); Volume 14 (1788, printed for John Stockdale and G.G.J. and J. Robinson, 4 pp. Preface, 5 pp. Contents, 556 pp., followed by 2 pp. list of New Books printed for John Stockdale, covers on, BOOKPLATE). Heavy set at 20 pounds and will require extra postage. Fair only. Text blocks are clean and solid, with uniform aging and all have matching marbled endpapers. Several covers are detached, but all are present. Most have one of two types of Richard Curson, Junior's oval bookplate, as noted in the detailed description. Still an impressive, if incomplete run of these first editions. Item #151310
An incomplate but important set. Volumes 1 through 11 (incomplete) were printed in 1787 for J. Buckland, etc. and are titled as being "The Works of Samuel Johnson...in Eleven Volumes." Volumes 12 and 13, also dated 1787, were, however, printed for John Stockdale and titled as "The Works of Samuel Johnson...in Thirteen Volumes." Volume 14, also printed for John Stockdale but dated 1788, is titled, "The Works of Samuel Johnson...in Fourteen Volumes." Presumably, the owner purchased the first 11 volumes as a complete set and then, as subsequent sets were printed more completely, he added to the set. Volumes 12 and 13, as noted on the page following each title page, are Volumes I and II (complete) of the Debates in Parliament. Most of these volumes contain the bookplate of "Richard Curson, jun." and it is presumed that he is the same individual referred to in this text, found in a blogspot relating to Elizabeth Becker Curson (who was born in New York City in 1731): "Elizabeth Becker's final living son, Richard Curson, Jr., was born on 1763 in New York, and fled to Baltimore, in 1777, with his parents. In 1784, he married Elizabeth Moale, had 3 children who lived to maturity, and lived at his parents' home until 1803. Elizabeth had worried about this son Richard for years. He was in ailing health and suffered from a spinal disease since early childhood. In 1787, Elizabeth Becker Curson died and was buried at Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church Cemetery in Baltimore. In 1805, Richard Curson Sr. died and was buried next to his wife. The following year, their son Richard was declared a lunatic by the Chancery Court of Maryland. The custody of his person & property were given to Samuel Vincent, who had administered the estate for the elder Curson and his wife, Elizabeth Becker Curson. Richard Jr. died on June 14, 1808, and was buried next to his parents in Baltimore."
Price: $750.00