[GARNETT, RICHARD (1835-1906); GOSSE, EDMUND (1849-1928)]. English Literature: An illustrated Record. London: William Heinemann, 1903-1906.
Mixed states. In four volumes (complete). Full leather. Hardcover. Quarto (255 x 180mm), pp. [xv], 368; [xiv], 389; [xii], 381; [xii], 462. Handsomely bound in contemporary tree calf by Bickers and Sons, London; five raised bands; compartments and bands ruled, lettered and fully decorated in gilt; double morocco lettering-pieces; gilt ruled border on boards; upper boards with gilt armorial crest; edges of boards with gilt ruled tooling; turn-ins blind stamped; marbled page edges, pastedowns and endpapers; initial and terminal blanks present; title-page vignettes; colour frontispieces; illustrated profusely throughout with colour plates, vignettes and facsimiles. Imprint vol. I: 'Printed in Great Britain by Woods & SonsLtd., London'. Imprint vols. II-IV: 'Printed by Ballantyne & Co. Limited, Tavistock Street, London'. Contents: Volume I: [by Garnett (1906)] From the Beginnings to the Age of Henry VIII; Volume II: [by Garnett & Gosse (1906)] From the Age of Henry VIII to the Age of Milton; Volume III: [by Gosse (1906)] From Milton to Johnson; Volume IV: [by Gosse (1903)] From the Age of Johnson to the Age of Tennyson.
Condition: Good to Very good. Collated complete. Lower joint to vol. I and joints to vol. III starting slightly, however, all is secure. Covers very good with slight rubbing to spine ends and points. Text-block remarkably fresh and clean with just a touch of foxing to endpapers. Without inking. Volume I with Epsom College prize plate to front pastedown. An exquisite set.
Notes: This exhaustive and detailed set traces the history of British literature from its beginnings up until the age of Tennyson, acting both as a history and as a bibliography, in a rare and seminal collaborative work.
