THE BOOK-CASE OF KNOWLEDGE OR LIBRARY FOR YOUTH 1800 BOUND IN 9 MINIATURE VOLUMES

THE BOOK-CASE OF KNOWLEDGE, OR LIBRARY FOR YOUTH; COMPRISING:

British Heroism; or Biographical Memoirs of some of those renowned commanders, who have extended the glory of the British Nation to the remotest parts of the world. London: for John Wallis by T. Gillet, 1800.

[Sold together with]:

A Compendium of Simple Arithmetic. London: for John Wallis by J. Cundee, 1800.

[Sold together with]:

Short and Easy Rules for attaining a Knowledge of English Grammar. London: for John Wallis, by T. Gillet, 1800.

[Sold together with]:

Rewards for attentive Studies or, Stories Moral and Entertaining. London: for John Wallis, by J. Cundee, 1800.

[Sold together with]:

The History of England from the Conquest to the Death of George II. London, for John Wallis, by T. Gillet, 1800.

[Sold together with]:

Geography and Astronomy familiarized for Youth of both Sexes. London: for John Wallis, by T. Gillet, 1800.

[Sold together with]:

Scripture History: or, A brief Account of the Old and New Testament. London: for John Wallis, by J. Cundee, 1800.

[Sold together with]:

Mythology, or, Fabulous Histories of the Heathen Deities. London: for John Wallis, By T. Gillet, 1800.

[Sold together with]:

A Familiar Introduction to Botany. London: for John Wallis, by J. Cundee, 1800.

First editions; 9 of 10 volumes (lacking A Natural History of Birds and Beasts); leather-bound; hardcovers; miniatures (9cm x 5.5cm); paginated; English text; bound in contemporary half calf, smooth spines gilt, marbled boards and endpapers; each volume with an engraved frontispiece and various illustrations throughout (some hand-coloured); one half-title present. Condition: Bindings tight and secure with all hinges and joints intact; some light rubbing to boards and extremities. Contents complete, else for discarded half-titles; interiors largely very clean, one volume with a previous owner name inked to front endpaper. Exquisite and scarce.

Notes: A wonderful and rare set of Wallis's 'Library for Youth' also known as the 'Book-Case of Knowledge', with nine of ten volumes in the first editions. 1800 was the year of the miniature library. The publisher John Marshall, who was soon to corner the market, issued no fewer than three sets that year, The Juvenile, or Child's Library (16 vols), The Infant's Library (17 vols, for younger children) and The Doll's Library. The first of Marshall's libraries to appear was The Juvenile Library, advertised in The Times on 22 November 1800. Wallis is often spoken of as Marshall's imitator and competitor, but it is not clear to us that Marshall has precedence. The final volume in Wallis's Library for Youth Rewards for attentive Studies, with the cover label 'Moral Tales' has a frontispiece dated 16 June 1800, fully five months before Marshall's volumes were published; its advertisement leaves list all ten volumes in the order presented here. Mythology also has an advertisement leaf for the 'Library for Youth', listing nine subjects (but omitting Scripture History and listing Geography and Astronomy separately), in a different order, suggesting the project grew during execution. The use of two different printers (Gillet printed six, Cundee four) suggests a rushed affair perhaps in order that Wallis could get his sets out before Marshall's. A number of volumes were re-printed in 1801, and mixed sets dated 1800-1 can also be found, sometimes in a book box in imitation of a book-case, labelled 'Book-case of Knowledge'. This set is lacking one volume - A Natural History of Birds and Beasts - but is nonetheless a very special collection, as complete sets of Wallis's Library for Youth are extremely scarce, all the more so with all volumes dated 1800. [Osborne II, p. 769,784, 778].