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Jonathan Swift, 1726
Details
Gulliver's Travels
Jonathan Swift, 1726
[SWIFT, Jonathan (1667-1745).] Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. By Lemuel Gulliver. London: Benjamin Motte, 1726.
First edition of Swift's masterpiece, with the contemporary supralibros of Jane Foxcroft on the second volume. Binding evidence of female ownership on an early 18th century novel is rare. Written in Ireland, probably between 1720 and 1725, Swift brought the finished manuscript to England with him when he left Dublin for London in March 1726. As the time of publication approached, it was frequently discussed by his friends, but even after its appearance on 28 October 1726 Swift kept up the public pretense of having had no hand in it. John Arbuthnot believed it would have as great a run as Bunyan, and John Gay wrote of the impression being "sold in a week" and "read from the cabinet council to the nursery." The manuscript had been delivered to Motte's door by Charles Ford, but it was through Pope's efforts that Swift obtained £200 for the copyright. He was to claim that this was the only occasion that he ever made a farthing by his writings (to Pulteney, 12 May, 1735). The present copy has the second state of the portrait frontispiece, with vertical chainlines. The first volume is Teerinks’s "a" and the second volume is "b". Ashley VI, p.28; Grolier English p 85; Teerink 289.
Two volumes, octavo (195 x 117mm). Frontispiece portrait, six maps and plans. Contemporary calf (nearly uniform, rebacked, corners showing). Provenance: Rebecca Grigson (ownership signature in vol. 1) - Jane Foxcroft (supralibros and ownership signature in vol. 2, dated 1727) - Ed. L. Samuel (ownership signature in vol. 2).
Jonathan Swift, 1726
[SWIFT, Jonathan (1667-1745).] Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. By Lemuel Gulliver. London: Benjamin Motte, 1726.
First edition of Swift's masterpiece, with the contemporary supralibros of Jane Foxcroft on the second volume. Binding evidence of female ownership on an early 18th century novel is rare. Written in Ireland, probably between 1720 and 1725, Swift brought the finished manuscript to England with him when he left Dublin for London in March 1726. As the time of publication approached, it was frequently discussed by his friends, but even after its appearance on 28 October 1726 Swift kept up the public pretense of having had no hand in it. John Arbuthnot believed it would have as great a run as Bunyan, and John Gay wrote of the impression being "sold in a week" and "read from the cabinet council to the nursery." The manuscript had been delivered to Motte's door by Charles Ford, but it was through Pope's efforts that Swift obtained £200 for the copyright. He was to claim that this was the only occasion that he ever made a farthing by his writings (to Pulteney, 12 May, 1735). The present copy has the second state of the portrait frontispiece, with vertical chainlines. The first volume is Teerinks’s "a" and the second volume is "b". Ashley VI, p.28; Grolier English p 85; Teerink 289.
Two volumes, octavo (195 x 117mm). Frontispiece portrait, six maps and plans. Contemporary calf (nearly uniform, rebacked, corners showing). Provenance: Rebecca Grigson (ownership signature in vol. 1) - Jane Foxcroft (supralibros and ownership signature in vol. 2, dated 1727) - Ed. L. Samuel (ownership signature in vol. 2).
Sale room notice
The second volume is Teerink's "B" edition (third octavo edition, Teerink 291).
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