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Philadelphia, [1807]
Details
Advertisement for Boswell's Life of Johnson
Philadelphia, [1807]
[JOHNSON, Samuel (1709-1804).] -- Boswell's Life of Johnson. William Andrews & Lemuel Blake propose to publish by subscription, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LLD. [n.p., 1806.] [With:] BOSWELL, James. The Life of Samuel Johnson. Boston: W. Andrews and L. Blake, 1807.
A rare Johnsonian prospectus for the first American edition of Boswell's Life: untrimmed, never folded, never bound. We trace no other copies of this broadside advertisement in the auction records, although there was a pamphlet version sold by American Art Association in 1927. The publishers were based in Boston; the present broadside solicits subscriptions in Philadelphia. Although the prospectus stipulates publication from the fourth London edition, ultimately the fifth London edition was used. The price was "Two Dollars and Twenty-Five Cents per Volume, payable on delivery, neatly finished in boards." Accompanied by a set of the first American edition.
Broadside, 288 x 227mm, wove paper, deckled edges preserved (some pale spotting). The books: Three volumes, octavo (218 x 132mm). Frontispiece portrait and two folding engraved plates. Contemporary sheep (rubbed, rebacked, modern bookplate).
Philadelphia, [1807]
[JOHNSON, Samuel (1709-1804).] -- Boswell's Life of Johnson. William Andrews & Lemuel Blake propose to publish by subscription, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LLD. [n.p., 1806.] [With:] BOSWELL, James. The Life of Samuel Johnson. Boston: W. Andrews and L. Blake, 1807.
A rare Johnsonian prospectus for the first American edition of Boswell's Life: untrimmed, never folded, never bound. We trace no other copies of this broadside advertisement in the auction records, although there was a pamphlet version sold by American Art Association in 1927. The publishers were based in Boston; the present broadside solicits subscriptions in Philadelphia. Although the prospectus stipulates publication from the fourth London edition, ultimately the fifth London edition was used. The price was "Two Dollars and Twenty-Five Cents per Volume, payable on delivery, neatly finished in boards." Accompanied by a set of the first American edition.
Broadside, 288 x 227mm, wove paper, deckled edges preserved (some pale spotting). The books: Three volumes, octavo (218 x 132mm). Frontispiece portrait and two folding engraved plates. Contemporary sheep (rubbed, rebacked, modern bookplate).
Brought to you by
Andrew Darlington
Senior Sale Coordinator