Portraits of Illustrious Personages of Great Britain

London: Harding, Mavor and Lepard, 1823-1834. First edition. Leather. Very Good Indeed. 13" by 10.5". Not Stated. A complete twelve volume first edition of Edmund Lodge's impressive collection of portraits of famous individuals, uniformly bound in half morocco. The first edition of this work, bound from the original parts, published between 1823 and 1834.These portraits were praised by Sir Walter Scott as 'a collection which at once satisfies the imagination and the understanding, showing us how the most distinguished of our ancestors looked, moved and dressed, and how they thought, acted, lived, and died'.Illustrated with two-hundred and forty portrait plate on India proof paper, with twenty plates per volume. Collated, complete.The portraits present within these volumes are from such revered artists as Holbein, Rubens, Vandyke, Lely and Kneller. With biographical sketches accompanying each figure, with portraits of such individuals as King Henry VIII, Sir Walter Scott, Sir Nicholas Carew, Francis Bacon, Catharine Parr, Robert Dudley, James Butler, Lord Paget, Francis Drake, Lady Jane and many more.Pagination continued: 7, 6, 8, 9; 7, 10, 9, 9, 9, 6, 9, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 11, 6, 19, 7, 8, 6, 6; 5, 7, 10, 17, 5, 13, 11, 12, 13, 12, 11, 25, 9, 13, 5, 15, 5, 9, 13, 9; 8, 8, 8, 11, 10, 11, 7, 8, 18, 6, 7, 9, 9, 11, 7, 12, 6, 14, 6, 7; 14, 13, 7, 11, 12, 9, 15, 7, 9, 6, 11, 10, 17, 7, 7, 17, 8, 7, 8, 8; 10, 10, 4, 19, 15, 10, 7, 9, 16, 9, 11, 7, 5, 7, 10, 9, 7, 8, 7; 8, 9, 10, 8, 13, 6, 8, 21, 7, 13, 6, 9, 8, 8, 8, 8, 17, 7, 3; 13, 4, 8, 9, 8, 10, 5, 9, 12, 10, 16, 10, 9, 10, 7, 9, 9, 11, 9, 8, 6; 7, 4, 14, 7, 12, 6, 11, 7, 14, 10, 10, 11, 8, 10, 10, 8, 12, 10 19ppIn signed bindings by W. Nutt.An exceptionally lovely set. In a signed half morocco binding by W. Nutt, with marbled paper covered boards. Minor discolouration to back strips, with rubbing to boards, resulting in significant fading to the paper. Internally, firmly bound. Pages bright, with areas of spotting throughout, most prominent to plates and tissue guards. All plates retaining original tissue guards. Very Good Indeed