The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Embellished with Engravings from Designs by Thomas Stodhart, Esq. R.A. by [Defoe, Daniel] - 1820

Two Volumes. Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies. London. 1820. Large Octavo. xcii, 429pp. Extra illustrated with Frontispiece portrait of Defoe by Michael Vandergucht, engraved by J. Thomson. Title page engraved vignette, 10 further engraved plates; v, 415pp. Engraved Frontispiece (Robinson Crusoe taking leave of his father and mother), 9 further plates. All indexed plates by Thomas Stothard, engraved by C. Heath. Large Paper Edition in a contemporary unsigned elegant full maroon morocco binding, embellished with elaborate gilt and blind tooling to spines, boards, edges and inner boards. Bevelled lozenges to all boards, with blind tooled cross hatching, fleur de lys and floral centrepieces. Lightly rubbed, some scuffing to upper board of Volume II and lower board of Volume I. Marbled endpapers. All edges marbled. Silk bookmarkers. Light offsetting to title pages, occasional spotting, otherwise bright and crisp. A handsome, firmly bound set.

DEFOE, DANIEL (1660-1731) A notable classic of world literature, Robinson Crusoe is generally regarded as the first English novel. James Joyce describes Crusoe: "the true symbol of the British conquest … cast away on a desert island, in his pocket a knife and a pipe, becomes an architect, a knife-grinder, an astronomer, a baker, a shipwright, a potter, a saddler, a farmer, a tailor, an umbrella-maker, and a clergyman. He is the true prototype of the British colonist, as Friday (the trusty savage who arrives on an unlucky day) is the symbol of the subject races. The whole Anglo-Saxon spirit is in Crusoe: the manly independence; the unconscious cruelty; the persistence; the slow yet efficient intelligence … the practical, well-balanced religiousness; the calculating taciturnity. Whoever rereads this simple, moving book in the light of subsequent history cannot help but fall under its prophetic spell."

STOTHARD, THOMAS RA (1755–1834), painter and illustrator. His superb illustrations for Robinson Crusoe are engraved by Charles Theodosius Heath (1785-1848).

Provenance:

From the Odling family library at Paxford House, Gloucestershire. (Thomas Odling (1911-2002), son of Willam Odling 1879-1943), grandson of William Odling FRS (1829-1921), great-grandson of George Odling, Surgeon (1795-1872), great-grandson of Sir William Sterndale-Bennett (1816-1875)

Armorial Bookplate to fep. Initials WJ. Crest: Ostrich plume argent, motto "Honor Virtutis Praemiium" [Jervois]

General William Jervois KH (1782-1862) Commander and Lieutenant Governor of Hong Kong.

His son, Lieutenant General Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois GCMG CB FRS (1821-1897) British military engineer and diplomat. From 1875 to 1888 he was, consecutively, Governor of the Straits Settlements, Governor of South Australia and Governor of New Zealand, coinciding with the time that R. L. Stevenson arrived in Samoa. Jervois wanted to annex Samoa, but the British Government refused under pressure from Bismarck.

This previously unidentified bookplate is recorded in two libraries: the Folger and the Beinecke collection at Yale:

Folger bibliographic ID: 265474 The Dramatic Works of Shakespeare 1802. 19 volumes. Extra illustrated, with plates by Thomas Stothard. Bookplate of W.J. (motto: "Honor virtutis praemium")

From R. L. Stevenson's library in Samoa: Defoe, Daniel. Discourse upon an Union of the Two Kingdoms of England and Scotland. Beinecke BEIN 1994 791. Unidentified armorial bookplate 'Honor Virtutis Praemium' WJ.