KIDGELL, John. Fables Originales; Original Fables, London: for James Robson, 1763, 2 volumes in one, 8°, FIRST EDITION, ISAAC REED'S COPY with his inscription to front free endpaper, volume I: [10], 127, [1], xviii; volume II: [11], 128-221 [i.e. 277], [1], xpp., parallel text in English and French, 4 woodcut plates, 2 facing the dedication leaves in each volume, 94 numbered woodcut illustrations, errata leaf to each volume (occasional heavy soiling), 19th-century red morocco, upper cover with Lord Houghton's crest in gilt, lettering-piece reading "Kidgell's Fables Never Published" (spine worn, upper cover detached), t.e.g., armorial bookplate of Robert, Marquis of Crewe. [Lowndes III, 1269: "never published"] Sold not subject to return owing to uncertainty of collation.

Details

KIDGELL, John. Fables Originales; Original Fables, London: for James Robson, 1763, 2 volumes in one, 8°, FIRST EDITION, ISAAC REED'S COPY with his inscription to front free endpaper, volume I: [10], 127, [1], xviii; volume II: [11], 128-221 [i.e. 277], [1], xpp., parallel text in English and French, 4 woodcut plates, 2 facing the dedication leaves in each volume, 94 numbered woodcut illustrations, errata leaf to each volume (occasional heavy soiling), 19th-century red morocco, upper cover with Lord Houghton's crest in gilt, lettering-piece reading "Kidgell's Fables Never Published" (spine worn, upper cover detached), t.e.g., armorial bookplate of Robert, Marquis of Crewe. [Lowndes III, 1269: "never published"] Sold not subject to return owing to uncertainty of collation.

Provenance

Ownership inscription of Isaac Reed 1788, and a note in his hand reading: "These volumes were never published. They were printed just at the time the author absconded & were suppressed. I never saw another copy." According to DNB, John Kidgell (fl. 1766), divine, "habitually neglected his duty, and lived as a man about town, under the auspices of Lord March. Walpole described him as a 'dainty, priggish parson, much in vogue among the old ladies for his gossiping and quaint sermons.'" When in 1763 the Government wanted a second copy of Wilkes's Essay on woman, Kidgell corruptly obtained it from the printer, handing it to Lord March. His reputation was further blasted when he attempted to defend his conduct in a pamphlet, and deeply in debt he fled the country.Isaac Reed (1742-1807), the owner of this copy, collected a valuable library at Staples Inn, furnished Johnson with notes for his Lives of the Poets, published Biographica Dramatica, re-edited Johnson and Steeven's edition of Shakespeare; and produced an elaborate edition of Shakespeare (1803) known as the "first variorum."

Lot Essay

The collation of this copy varies from that given in ESTC, having 10 preliminaries rather than 8 in vol. I, and 11 preliminaries rather than 7 in vol. II. There are 18 index leaves not 20 in vol. I, and 10 index leaves not 20 in vol. II. However, the index in vol. I goes up to Z, and that in vol. II up to W, so there is no evident lack of text.

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