Details
JOHNSON, Samuel (1709-1784). A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland. London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1775. 8o (207 x 127 mm). D8 and U4 are cancels. Errata leaf at end. (Title and text lightly spotted.) Contemporary marbled calf, comb-marbled endpapers (early rebacking preserving original spine). Provenance: 19th-century shelf label on front pastedown -- purchased from Seven Gables Bookshop, New York, 11 January 1972. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE with 12-line errata. Johnson's journey, though contemplated far earlier, took place in 1773 when he was sixty-four. He sent the first sheets of his account to press on 20 June 1774, and before the year ended it had been published at 5 shillings. Courtney and Smith p. 122; Chapman and Hazen p. 151; Fleeman 75.1J/1a; Rothschild 1256; Tinker 1357.
[With:]
JOHNSON, Samuel. The Poetical Works, edited by G. Kearsley. London: for the editor, and sold by G. Kearsley, 1785. Small 8o (158 x 91 mm). 2 advertisement leaves at end. (A2 browned at margins.) Contemporary speckled calf, flat gilt spine with red morocco lettering-piece. Exhibited: Grolier Club, 'This powerfull rime,' 1975, no. 44. AN ATTRACTIVE COPY OF THE FIRST COLLECTED EDITION, with A2 in second state. Courtney and Smith p. 157; Chapman and Hazen p. 162; Fleeman 85.2PW/1; Tinker 1374. (2)
[With:]
JOHNSON, Samuel. The Poetical Works, edited by G. Kearsley. London: for the editor, and sold by G. Kearsley, 1785. Small 8o (158 x 91 mm). 2 advertisement leaves at end. (A2 browned at margins.) Contemporary speckled calf, flat gilt spine with red morocco lettering-piece. Exhibited: Grolier Club, 'This powerfull rime,' 1975, no. 44. AN ATTRACTIVE COPY OF THE FIRST COLLECTED EDITION, with A2 in second state. Courtney and Smith p. 157; Chapman and Hazen p. 162; Fleeman 85.2PW/1; Tinker 1374. (2)