The Trial and Execution of the Sparrow, for killing Cock Robin, London: S. Lingham, ca. 1844. 12° (127 x 100mm). 15 hand-coloured engraved illustrations (all leaves mounted on thick paper), later cloth gilt (slight wear to extremities of spine), original wrappers bound in (repaired with loss of 3 letters). cf. Osborne p. 91. -- and 9 others including The House that Jack Built (G. Mansell, ca. 1847), the remainder consisting of various titles from Marks's Editions. (11)

Details

The Trial and Execution of the Sparrow, for killing Cock Robin, London: S. Lingham, ca. 1844. 12° (127 x 100mm). 15 hand-coloured engraved illustrations (all leaves mounted on thick paper), later cloth gilt (slight wear to extremities of spine), original wrappers bound in (repaired with loss of 3 letters). cf. Osborne p. 91. -- and 9 others including The House that Jack Built (G. Mansell, ca. 1847), the remainder consisting of various titles from Marks's Editions. (11)

Lot Essay

The first named item is a satire on the use of circumstantial evidence. MM records only two other copies of this sequel: the defective Osborne copy (speculatively dated 1810), and a copy sold by Sotheby's 19.3.81, lot 313. Both were published by William Darton. This copy is presumably a "remainder issue" published by a firm which was notorious for them.

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