THE LIFE AND STRANGE SURPRIZING ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE BY DANIEL DEFOE 1790, FIRST STOCKDALE EDITION FINELY BOUND BY SOTHERAN

THE LIFE AND STRANGE SURPRIZING ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE BY DANIEL DEFOE 1790, FIRST STOCKDALE EDITION FINELY BOUND BY SOTHERAN

£1,200.00

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[DEFOE, Daniel (1661?-1731)]. The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner: Who Lived Eight and Twenty Years all Alone in an Uninhabited Island on the Coast of America, Near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque Having Been Cast on Shore by Shipwreck, Wherein all the Men Perished but Himself With an Account how he was at Last as Strangely Delivered by Pyrates. London: printed for John Stockdale, 1790.

First edition thus; in two volumes; leather-bound; hardcovers; octavos; English text; bound in early 20th-century full calf gilt by Sotheran; all edges gilt; two engraved title pages, one engraved author portrait, and 14 full-page engraved plates (including two frontispieces), designed by Thomas Stothard and engraved by Meland; publisher's catalogue to rear of volume 2; title-page to vol. 2: ’The farther adventures of Robinson Crusoe; being the second and last part of his life, .. ’; pp. [367]-456 of vol. 2 contain a life of Defoe and a list of his writings by George Chalmers. Condition: VERY GOOD. Collates complete, bindings tight and secure with the joints and hinges intact, a few marks to boards, lightly rubbed to extremities, light sporadic spotting. A handsome set.

Notes: The first Stockdale edition of Daniel Defoe's classic adventure tale of Robinson Crusoe, famously illustrated by Thomas Stothard, in two finely bound volumes. First published in 1719 and still beloved today, "Robinson Crusoe" is a tale of endurance and ingenuity in which a marooned seaman rises to the challenges of 28 years on a desert island, his solitude relieved only by the eventual appearance of the loyal native Friday. Publisher John Stockdale (ca. 1749-1814) was a former valet who rose to printing prominence with premises in Piccadilly. He was prosecuted in a famous trial of 1789 for libel after publishing Logan's "Review of the Charges against Warren Hastings," but acquitted in an important decision for freedom of the press, which led to the passage of the Libel Act of 1792 (this acquittal did not, however, prevent Stockdale from being fined £200 for libel in 1809.). The lively engravings are the work of one of the most prolific and popular illustrators of the 18th and 19th centuries. DNB says that Stothard (1755-1834) "illustrated almost the whole range of English literature with a taste that seldom failed and a sympathy that was often remarkable," attaining "a place which is second to none for invention and grace. " Houfe says that "Stothard was by far the most successful and distinguished illustrator of his day," estimating that "his total contributions" were in excess of 5,000, "most of them figure subjects which the artist took from nature." He was a close friend of Blake, and his work often resembles that of his more famous colleague. [Lowndes I, 613; Brunet II, 566; ESTC T72291].