NAPOLEON & CAPT GRONOW 1810-60 4V LEATHER HAND COLOR PT

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Rees Howell Gronow, The Reminiscences and Recollections of Captain Gronow, Being Anecdotes of the Camp, Cout, Clubs, and Society 1810 -1860... with Portrait, Four Woodcuts, and Twenty Etched and Aquatint Illustrations from Contemporary Sources, by Joseph Grego. In Two Volumes . (London: John C. Nimmo, 1889) Complete in Two Volumes bound as Four, Large Paper 8vo (10 1/4 " x 7") Vol. 1, 299 pp. ; Vol. 2, 491 pp. : Vol. 3, 487 pp.; Vol. 4, 497 pp. Bound in early 3/4 French Levant morocco leather signed bindings by KNICKERBOCKER PRESS hand bindery, N.Y., five raised bands, spine titles and compartments in gilt, boards ruled in gilt, red linen board cloth, white silk ribbon place markers, top edge gilt with others uncut. With publisher's brown cloth bindings retained and bound in V. 1 and V.3. Illustrated with 25 aquatint engravings. THIS SET EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH EACH PLATE IN TWO STATES, BOTH BLACK & WHITE AND HAND COLORED, 50 PLATES TOTAL. FIRST EDITION THUS, LIMITED EDITION #211 OF 870 PRINTED, LARGE PAPER EDITION. "When he [Gronow] relates his personal experiences, as in his account of the state of Paris in 1815, the condition of society in London in his own time, and the doings of the court of Napoleon III, his testimony is to be relied on, but his second-hand stories and anecdotes of persons whom he did not know are of lesser value. Whether reliable or not, his narrative is invariably lively and entertaining." WIKIPEDIA. Rees Howell Gronow (1794 -1865) was a soldier, social sensation and "dandy", and literary figure, roughly in that order, during his lifetime. "Wanting money to equip himself for his services abroad, he obtained an advance of 200 pounds from his agents, Cos and Greenwood, and going with this money to a gambling-house in St. James's square, he won 600 pounds, with which he purchased horses and other necessaries. Apparently without the permission of the war office he then crossed the Channel, was present at Quatre Bras and Waterloo, entered Paris on 25 June 1815, and on 28 June became a lieutenant and later a captn in his regiment... On June 1823 he became insolvent, and after some confinement was discharged from Debtor's Prison under the Insolvent Debtors Act." WIKIPEDIA. This is a complete Large Paper set, a superb example of fine 19th century printing, hand color aquatint engraving (or etching) illustration, and fine 19th century hand binding by the Knickerbocker Press Bindery of New York. Matched set is elegantly bound in top quality French Levant red morocco, with "signed" binder's stamp at rear free endpaper of V. 1. from Putnam's Knickerbocker Press bindery, New York. This is also the "Large Paper" edition, more than an inch taller than most sets. These hand finished and colored aquatint plates are quality examples of what many bibliophiles believe to be the finest 19th century technique for color book illustration. Set is fresh with page signatures tight -- and partly unopened (this means some pages have not been cut with letter opener on front edge). Leather is bright, hinges with some wear but both inner and outer hinges are unbroken. All headbands and tailbands are present and original -- headcaps and tailcaps mostly present but with some wear and small chipping noted (see photos). Some wear at board edges and corners, a little soiling (finger smudging) of boards. Tissue guarded color and black & white plates and text are on fine paper and in excellent preservation. No owner's annotations, no underlining, no library or ex-library markings. No dampstaining, no musty or smoky aroma. Another example of this "best edition" of Gronow's Reminiscences and Recollections is offered by a United Kington dealer at $2,186 -- also bound in Four red morocco volumes, also signed by binder, and also with plates in two states and with 25 hand color plates total -- and with extra black & white plates bound in. My set is "extra-illustrated" with complete 25 hand color aquatints as called for, bit without extra black and white plat... read more

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