[Rarebooks] Thomas Rowlandson - Poetical Sketches of Scarborough

[Karen Howell]

I offer:

[ROWLANDSON]  GREEN, James, et al.  Poetical Sketches of Scarborough: Illustrated by Twenty-One Engravings of Humorous Subjects, Coloured From Original Designs, Made Upon the Spot by J. Green, and Etched by T Rowlandson.  London: Printed for R. Ackermann by J. Diggens, 1813.  4to.  9 9/16 x 6 1/8 inches.  [viii], xv, [1 blank], 215, [1 blank] pp.  21 hand-colored aquatint plates (including the frontispiece), dedication page, advertisement, table of contents, "Some Account of Scarborough," 21 humorous poems are, in this edition, marked at the end of each chapter with the author's initials; the authors include William Combe (1741-1823), John Bunoarotti Papworth (1775-1847) and Francis Wrangham (1769-1842); the table of contents has very light pencil marks in the margin which relate the plates to the chapter numbers, offsetting associated with the plates.  Nineteenth-century paste paper over boards, red leather spine label titled in gilt; binding square and tight.  Good. 

$ 375

SECOND EDITION.  The seaside town of Scarborough is home to a stream of acidic water that became the foundation of Scarborough Spa, which attracted visitors beginning in the seventeenth century.  England's first seaside resort, Scarborough became the home of the rolling bathing machines (plate 9) in 1735.  The plates and the text take the reader on a visit to the famous resort, beginning with the carriage ride (plate 1), to famous venues such as the Library (plate 13), and so forth.  The authors and illustrators had great fun with this suite of plates, inasmuch as plate 8, "The Warm Bath" is said to contain a nude portrait of George IV's mistress, Mrs. Robinson.  References: Abbey, No. 298; Grego, pp. 268-269; Tooley, 423. 

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John Howell
310 367-9720