Ainsworth, William Harrison; Cruikshank, George Illustrations (4 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Reprint edition. Hardcover in red cloth boards. 8vo. No edition or year stated--circa 1900. Stamped on front board is "The Original Illustrated Edition. " Book is clean and crisp; binding is solid. Some wear and light spotting to boards; spine is faded. A nice copy, with Cruikshank's steel engravings. 359 pp. Heavy--may require additional postage if shipped other than domestic media mail.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. with illustrations by George Cruikshank (illustrator). 3rd Edition. Firmly bound, full maroon leather binding. Raised bands and decorated spine. Some rubbing on the hinges which are starting to split from the base.

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Hard cover with original yellow paper boards designed as a cheap edition for railway journeys. Some discolouration/darkening of boards with worn edges, and a round stain on rear board. Titles on front board, and on the rear board are advertisements for further Routledge publications including novels by Captain Marryat, Cooper and Disraeli. Frontispiece and further illustrations by George Cruikshank, 314 pages. Published in 1862 this 1st edition Railway Book is in reasonably good condition.

Hard Cover. First Edition. (London: Richard Bentley 1840). First UK Edition, First Issue, the 3 plates mentioned by Cohn at pp. 16, 28 and 45 in their first state. 439 pages. Handsomely rebound in full red morocco with 5 raised bands to the spine with with title and author in gilt to the spine in panel 2. Marbled end-papers. There are two former owner's bookplates: Ex Libris Robert Hall 1902 to the front paste-down and Sir Alfred Seale Haslam (1844-1927) to the front free end-paper. All edges gilt, marbled end papers. With 40 etchings on steel and 58 wood engravings by George Cruikshank. Interestingly, this copy has a double set of plates (one coloured and the other un-coloured) and also includes an autograph signed letter by Cruikshank (partner of Ainsworth and Cruikshank). The pages are lightly toned and the plates are cleaner than most copies of this early title (foxing is often a major problem with this printing and this copy has largely escaped that fate). Near fine. Cohn 14. Sadleir 31. A handsome production. Ainsworth's The Tower of London is the first successful English exploitation of London topography along the lines of Eugène Sue's Mysteries of Paris and, pre-eminently, Victor Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris. [Sutherland, p. 633]. "The technical excellence of the best of these plates in their fidelity to historical detail suggests that during these years [working with Ainsworth, 1836-41] Cruikshank had adopted an altogether more ambitious view if the illustrators's role. He shared Ainsworth's concern for minute accuracy in the rendering of architectural setting, period costume, and so forth; and as their correspondence shows, the two conferred at length about such matters and together conducted a good deal of on-the-spot research. In preparing the designs Cruikshank clearly found some measure of compensation for the career as an historical painter from which his lack of academic training debarred him". [E. D. H.Johnson, p. 18-19] Photographs/scans available upon request.