History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
by FIELDING, Henry
- Used
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Beverly Hills, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
First edition, with list of errata on c8 recto in Volume I and with all errata mentioned still uncorrected throughout. Six twelvemo volumes (6 3/8 x 3 7/8 inches; 162 x 99 mm). lxii, [1, errata], [1, blank], 214, [2, blank]; [2], 324; [2], 370, [2, blank]; [2], 312; [2], 294; [2], 304 pp. Collates complete per Rothschild, with all of the usual cancels (volume I; B9 & 10: volume II; B4 & 5, and N12: volume III; H8, H9, H10, M3, and Q11: volume V; N8) and final blanks as called for (K12 in volume I and R12 in volume III). The catchword for Vol. I, page 21 is "lected."
Full contemporary calf. All volumes with headcap repairs. Volumes 1,4, 5, & 6 rebacked preserving original spines and labels. Boards double ruled in gilt. Spines stamped and ruled in gilt. With red morocco spine labels and black morocco volume number lozenges, all lettered in gilt. Some minor foxing here and there, otherwise very clean. Previous owner's old ink signature on front endpapers of all volumes. A small bookplate to front pastedown of volumes II and III. Evidence of small removed bookplate on front pastedown of all volumes. Volume II with some fading to front board and a small corner stain to leaf N12. Volume III, leaf O11 with upper corner with small repair, only affecting the page number. Overall all a very clean, nice set.
"One of the three most perfect plots ever penned." (Coleridge). The entire first edition of 2,000 copies was immediately bought up by the London trade, necessitation a second edition very quickly. Both Cross and Jensen support the view that the second edition was in hand at about the same time that the sixth volume of the first edition went to press.
Cross III, pp. 316-317. Grolier, 100 English, 48. Rothschild 850-851. Sterling 360.
HBS 68417.
$6,500.
Synopsis
A foundling of mysterious parentage brought up by Mr. Allworthy on his country estate, Tom Jones is deeply in love with the seemingly unattainable Sophia Western, the beautiful daughter of the neighboring squire—though he sometimes succumbs to the charms of the local girls. When Tom is banished to make his own fortune and Sophia follows him to London to escape an arranged marriage, the adventure begins. A vivid Hogarthian panorama of eighteenth-century life, spiced with danger and intrigue, bawdy exuberance and good-natured authorial interjections, Tom Jones is one of the greatest and most ambitious comic novels in English literature. Includes a chronology, suggestions for further reading, notes, glossary, and an appendix of Fielding's revisions Introduction discusses narrative tecniques and themes, the context of eighteenth-century fiction and satire, and the historical and political background of the Jacobite revolution
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Heritage Book Shop, LLC (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 68417
- Title
- History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
- Author
- FIELDING, Henry
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- Printed for A. Millar
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1749
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- English Literature
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
Heritage Book Shop, LLC
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Heritage Book Shop, LLC
About Heritage Book Shop, LLC
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
- Errata
- Errata: aka Errata Slip A piece of paper either laid in to the book correcting errors found in the printed text after being...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Rebacked
- having had the material covering the spine replaced. ...
- Recto
- The page on the right side of a book, with the term Verso used to describe the page on the left side.