[Rarebooks] fa: CHARLOTTE SMITH - OLD MANOR HOUSE 1822 - Whittingham Pocket Novelists nos. 3 & 4 in Original Printed Bindings

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, October 4. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/nayte6m

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain

Charlotte Smith: The Old Manor House. Chiswick: Printed by C. Whittingham. Sold by C.S. Arnold [et al], 1822. Two volumes, small 12mo (13 cm), in original publisher's printed and illustrated paper-covered boards; [4], 354 pp.; [4], 328 pp.; woodcut title-page vignettes

A remarkably well-preserved example of what was intended as an ephemeral object, the early-nineteenth-century equivalent of a cheap paperback novel, meant to be read and discarded or shared and re-read until it  fell apart. Charles Whittingham, founder of the famous Chiswick Press and one of the foremost printers of the late-Georgian period, was known for the fine quality of his books and illustrations. More to the point,  in the present case, he also was the first to come up with the idea of printing cheap, handy editions of standard authors for the general reading public. As stated on the rear panel of one of these volumes, "[The publisher] means that his edition shall combine correctness, neatness, portability and cheapness…" Charlotte Smith's The Old Manor House was the second novel Whittingham issued under his "Pocket Novelists" banner, preceded only by the two volumes of Fanny Burney's Evelina.

Modest browning to the boards, some chipping to the spine ends, a split at the top of the front joint of vol. II, rear board of vol. I partially abraded along the fore-edge, lesser wear and small chips to other edges; light dust-soiling to the edges of the text blocks, otherwise the contents are very clean and sound, securely bound. An uncommon example of Regency-era mass market publishing— and a very readable and entertaining novel, to boot.