Essays by Mr. Goldsmith

London: Printed for I.&F., Rivington, B. Law, et al., 1775. Leather bound. Very good. Duodecimo size, 254 pp. Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) authored many of the favourite novels of the eighteenth century, including "The Vicar of Wakefield", "The Deserted Village", and "She Stoops to Conquer". While not widely read today, these stories continued to have an affect upon authors and artists through the twentieth century.

This work, a collection of Goldsmith's essays, was first published in 1765, with two additional essays having been added in the 1766 second edition. In the Preface, Goldsmith's humour and mastery of the English language shine through, giving promise to what might be found in these Essays, regardless of his self-deprecating wit.

This volume with the Ex-Libris of "R.H. Isham", quite possibly Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Heyward Isham (1890-1955), who served in the British army during WWI. Isham was an avid collector of the papers of James Boswell, which he would later privately publish in an edition of eighteen volumes.

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full leather, red leather spine label with gilt lettering and narrow rules, the rest of the spine with gilt tooling, the armorial bookplate of R.H. Isham on the front pastedown (see above), engraved title page; duodecimo size (7" by 4.25"), pagination: [i] ii-vi [1] 2-248.

___CONDITION: Very good overall, we had a professional (name available upon request) strengthen both hinges and joints, the binding is now a bit tender but quite readable, the hinges solid, the interior clean with some light scattered foxing, prior owner markings include the Ex-Libris mentioned above and a small symbol (?) within a circle, in ink, at the top fore-edge corner of the front pastedown.

___CITATIONS: ESTC T146071, NCBEL volume 2, p. 1197.

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