London: Printed For James Hodges At The Looking-Glass On London-Bridge. Good. 1722. First Edition. Hardcover. London: Good. 1722 . First Edition. 48 3-49 1 3-46 pp pages; Title continues: "Worcestershire Shropshire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. In what diocese circumference of miles number of houses air soil rivers commodities seats of the nobility and gentlemen &c. Likewise an account of I. Market-towns market-days and their distance fron London. 2. Members of Parliament. 3 Fairs fix'd and moveable. 4. Coaches carriers and water-bound. 5. Roads from London to the chief towns and cross-roads in each county. London : printed for James Hodges at the Looking-Glass on London-Bridge " 1722 Date suggested from a note in ms. At the foot of the title page of the British Library copy. 12mo. 143 x 82 mm -- vertical chain lines. Contemporary sheepskin leather plain double rules framing the covers in blind no paste-down endpapers apparently this was the original state of the binding. There is no glue or staining to the exposed turn downs of the edges of the leather the paste-boards or the simple cords affixing the boards where they are exposed at the original piercing of the boards inner sides. The bookplate of a collector who died in 1922 is mounted directly to the inner surface of the exposed front board . 48 3-49 1 3-46 pp. Signatures: A-H4/² ²A-H4/² ³A-G4/² precisely identical to the British Library copy as stated in ESTC. The binding is worn the outer hinges are cracked there are small areas of leather lost at the spine ends and a chip missing along the plain spine -- there is a gouge missing near the center of the rear cover two smaller areas of loss to the leather along the edge of that rear board small loss at the corners. The text block shows minor staining where the exposed leather of the inner turn downs has come in contact with the edges of the first and last couple of leaves. No tears or significant paper flaws. A couple of corners are turned down at their tips ca. 2 mm. . No pen marks annotation or underlining throughout. Although this small book shows significant wear it is integral and its original appearance and function remain intact. Calling this book "rare" is an understatement. In the reference literature we can find only a single copy located at the British Library. We have a longer description which we will gladly send upon request . Our volume seems to represent a form and manner of bookselling which was starting to ebb away -- the world of the booksellers who worked and mostly lived on old London Bridge offering chapbooks and their like -- ballads broadsides newsbooks novels and histories romances jest books pious works and almanacs -- cheaply made books at very low prices. One of the two names associated with this book belongs to Matthew Hotham. Like most of the London Bridge booksellers he started out as an apprentice. As his master had done before him he maintained a wider base of operations than his narrow stall on the stone London Bridge since he fed chapbooks horn books and similar inexpensive printed items to a number of roving salesmen the so-called "chapmen" who wandered through England selling these cheap books at fairs and markets to people who were unlikely ever to have stepped over the threshhold of a book shop of any sort. "chap" is derived from the Old English "ceap" meaning "barter business dealing" -- our modern word "cheap" comes from the same source . For the most part the chapmen worked on margin; when they managed to empty their box they returned to London Bridge paid for what they had sold and received another varied lot of consigned books. By the early 18th century when our book was produced the cycle of trade with the roving chapmen was a couple of centuries old. The name in the imprint of our title page James Hodges had also been an apprentice on London Bridge -- but he was younger than Matthew Hotham probably still in his tee; European History Economics and Business Most Recent Listing . Printed For James Hodges, At The Looking-Glass, On London-Bridge hardcover
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