A Catalogue of the Classic Contents of Strawberry Hill Collected by Horace Walpole [provenance: Sir John Charles Robinson]

London: Smith and Robins, 1842. Hardcover. Very Good -. xxiv, 250 p.: 1 leaf of engraved portrait of Horace Walpole, in-text illustrations; 29 cm. Later 19th-century brown cloth spine with original boards. Engraved cover title: A Catalogue of the Contents of Strawberry Hill. Engraved title page. George Robins, the auctioneer, advertised the sale to begin on April 25, 1842, and continue for 24 days. However, the original plan to sell some of the prints, drawings, and illustrated books in large lots was altered, so the contents originally proposed for the seventh and eight days of the sale were withdrawn, recatalogued in smaller lots, and sold later. As many as 7 editions of the catalog are known. This edition includes descriptions of contents through day 24, omitting days 7 and 8; the 6th day concludes with lot 160, omitting the Waldegrave manuscripts (originally lots 161- 187). It does not include the "Names of purchasers and the prices" sometimes found on 58 pages at the end. Inscription on p. xxi dated Jan. 7 1855 by John Robinson, who relates taking nuts from the chestnut trees at Strawberry Hill (said to have been planted by Horace Walpole) at the time of the sale and planting the resulting trees in Kinnington Park. Part of the last line of the inscription was lost when the pages were trimmed during the later 19th-century rebinding. Robinson's name is also written on the front board. He is identified by Sotheran as Sir John Charles Robinson (1824-1913). with documents from the 2002 sale of the catalog by Henry Sotheran, London. Gift inscription on front free endpaper from Guy Lacy Schless to Nancy Schless, 2002. In Very Good- Condition: boards are stained; upper righthand corner of portrait dampstained; occasional foxing, including portrait and title page; occasional soiling.