Details
[SMOLLETT, Tobias (1721-1771)]. The Adventures of Roderick Random... London: J. Osborn, 1748.
2 volumes, 12o (167 x 97 mm). With final blank in vol. II. (Vol. II with short tear to A2, corner of M10 torn away just touching two letters, R7 with internal tear along text.) Contemporary panelled sprinkled calf (some chipping and splitting to joints, minor worming to lower cover of vol. II); folding cloth case.
FIRST EDITION, I9 in vol. I is uncancelled with Locke's name on recto, line 22. Smollett's first novel was printed by W. Strahan in January, 1748, in an edition of 2000 copies. A first person narrative, rich in character and picaresque detail, driven less by any formal plot than a fierce inner energy, Roderick Random is strongly autobiographical, exposing both the brutality of the British navy and the appalling poverty of London life, in the eponymous hero's desperate search for social stability. The preface explains that the novel is modelled on Le Sage who, in Gil Blas, "has described the knavery and foibles of life with infinite humour and sagacity." Rothschild 1905. (2)
2 volumes, 12o (167 x 97 mm). With final blank in vol. II. (Vol. II with short tear to A2, corner of M10 torn away just touching two letters, R7 with internal tear along text.) Contemporary panelled sprinkled calf (some chipping and splitting to joints, minor worming to lower cover of vol. II); folding cloth case.
FIRST EDITION, I9 in vol. I is uncancelled with Locke's name on recto, line 22. Smollett's first novel was printed by W. Strahan in January, 1748, in an edition of 2000 copies. A first person narrative, rich in character and picaresque detail, driven less by any formal plot than a fierce inner energy, Roderick Random is strongly autobiographical, exposing both the brutality of the British navy and the appalling poverty of London life, in the eponymous hero's desperate search for social stability. The preface explains that the novel is modelled on Le Sage who, in Gil Blas, "has described the knavery and foibles of life with infinite humour and sagacity." Rothschild 1905. (2)