Robinson Crusoe

London: Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, Strand, 1820. Later edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 2 vol. 8vo. [5], iv-xcii, [1], 2-429, [5]; [5], iv-v, [2], 2-415, [5] pp. Turn-of-the-century morocco (ca. 1899) over marbled boards, spines in six compartments with gilt lettering and decorations, top edges gilt; marbled endpapers and pastedowns. Packer 152. Bound by Tout and Sons, a bindery run by Samuel Tout in Victorian London. Volume one illustrated with a frontispiece, a vignette on the title page, and with ten plates; volume two illustrated with a vignette and nine additional plates. Printed on large paper. A bookseller's advertisement for the set is pasted onto the verso of the front flyleaf (with the seller's "clearance price" of $57.50). ADNB, Gary Scharnhorst, "Loomis, Charles Battell". Bookplate of C.B. Loomis on each front pastedown, with the family crest and motto, "Ne cede malis". Charles Battell Loomis was an American humorist and author. Oxford DNB, M.G. Sullivan, "Stothard, Thomas". The second edition with the Thomas Stothard illustrations, with more illustrations than the 1790 Stockdale edition. Thomas Stothard was a prolific painter and book illustrator. He apprenticed as a silk weaver, which helped him to develop his characteristic illustration style. A member of the Royal Academy in Maiden Lane, Stothard was friends with Flaxman and Blake, and worked until his death in the early 1830s. A lovely illustrated edition of Defoe's classic adventure story, one of the first English novels to be published. A Very Good or better set with mellowing to the spines (a rich brown), leaves show occasional spotting and toning, especially to the endleaves and the margins of the plates.