Hudibras, in Three Parts, Written in the Time of the Late Wars

London: Printed for Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe ... and Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1806. Later edition. Hardcover. Near Fine. 2 vol. 8vo. [3], ii-lii, [3], 56-500; [5], 4-476 pp. Full early twentieth-century patterned calf with the spines in six compartments, a green and a purple morocco label lettered in gilt on each spine, three gilt borders on each board, gilt decorations on the boards' edges and turn-ins; all edges gilt. Marbled endpapers and pastedowns. A green silk-ribbon bookmark bound in each volume. Endpapers and pastedowns are contemporary with the binding. Bound by Root & Son. Volume one illustrated with a frontispiece and eight color plates, volume two with a folding color frontispiece and with seven color plates. Both volumes with several in-text engravings. With annotations and a preface by Zachary Grey. Encyclopedia Britannica, "Hudibras: poem by Buter". Butler remains one of the pre-eminent English satirists in the canon. His work Hudibras makes beautiful use of metre while also delivering stinging criticism to radical Puritanical beliefs and ideas. The burlesque style and narrative set-up can be traced in part to de Scarron and to Cervantes. Hudibras was originally published in the late seventeenth century, and was wildly popular in its day. This is a beautiful set of a brilliant satire, with bright and attractive color plates. A small name plate on each front pastedown, overall a sparkling set.