Noblesse

Seven books in two volumes, complete. AN OUTSTANDING SET, IN FIRST STATE AND ABSOLUTELY COMPLETE, OF THE FIRST AND ONLY EDITION OF ONE OF THE RAREST, MOST IMPORTANT, AND BEST-PRODUCED GENEALOGICAL WORKS OF THE 18th CENTURY. 1 leaf; xxxvii pp.; 1 leaf; 30, 457 pp.; 4 leaves; 533 pp. plus 16 genealogical tables on 10 inserted leaves; 8 double-page genealogical tables; one larger folding double-page genealogical table; 10 etched and engraved plates (mainly views of estates); and 19 fine portraits (COMPLETE, incuding 18 mezzotints engraved by John Faber, and an engraving by William Henry Toms after Van Dyck and Lempriere. The five Rawdon portraits, intended for a different work but sometimes inserted into this one, are not present). The introduction is in the first state, before the cancelation of p. xxxvii (later copies have xli pages in the introduction). Moreover, pp. [453-460] of volume II, printed in 1765 and rarely found, are present. This set is extra-illustrated with an engraved portrait (1807) of John Perceval in volume I and with an engraved view (1783) of Enmore Castle in volume II. Lowndes, who examined only second-state copies of this work, asserts that pp. 446-447 of volume II are missing. IN THE SET I OFFER THESE PAGES ARE PRESENT. (The reason for this discrepancy is that quire Lll of volume II was re-set to eliminate a lengthy--two page--screed on the privileges of the nobility. That screed is present in the copy I offer, but in few others.) Lowndes also mistakenly calls for a map of part of the estate of John Perceval, which was in fact printed long after this work and does not form part of it, although it is sometimes found bound in. The fact that almost all of the portraits are executed in mezzotint indicates how small the press run was: only 25 to 50 impressions of a mezzotint could be taken before the plate would have shown signs of wear (and the impressions in this set are uniformly rich and brilliant). A few of the known sets of this work, indeed, are missing the portraits (which is even more understandable since the mezzotint portraits were engraved after the book was printed, some of them as late as 1747). The dozens of in-text coats of arms (and the vignettes on the fly-titles of all of the individual books) are engraved on copper, not wood, demonstrating that no expense was spared in the production of this lavish publication. The attractive engraved Northwick armorial bookplate (motto: "Par ternis suppar") in each volume. Beautifully printed on fine handmade Dutch laid paper, with the title-pages printed in red and black. Royal 8vo. ELEGANTLY BOUND BY SAMUEL CHARLES SMITH (signed) c. 1810 in full forest green morocco, covers gilt, spines elaborately gilt in six compartments. All edges gilt. Only tiny traces of wear, else A BRIGHT AND FINE SET. Lowndes I, 40 (giving an extensive collation); Lewine, p. 28; Graesse I, 116; Brunet I, 262; Moule DXLII (giving an astronomical price of 15 to 30 guineas in 1822.) Very rare. An important source for Norman and English history, and an impressive example of 18th-century English book production at its finest.