The Spectator Volume the First & Volume the Second

Two smart volumes of the British periodical The Spectator. Volumes one and two of eight. A daily publication founded by Joseph Addison, an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician, and Richard Steele, an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright and politician, in England, lasting from 1711 to 1712. It was later reissued to appear thrice weekly in 1714. Its aim was "to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality", to provide readers with varied topics for well-reasoned discussion, and to equip them to carry on conversations and engage in social interactions in a polite manner. The journal reached an audience of thousands of people every day with the intention of increasing the number of female readers. Volume the first contains issues one to eighty dating Thursday 1st March 1710 to Friday 1st June 1711. Volume the second contains issues eighty-one to one hundred and sixty-nine dating Saturday 2nd June 1711 to Thursday 13th September 1712. Bound in full speckled calf. Externally, smart with rubbing and light wear to the extremities. Fading to the spine with the odd small mark to the boards. Light loss to the head and tail of the spine with small cracks to the joints. Loss to the spine label to volume one with minor loss of the spine label to volume two. Boards lightly buckled. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright with scattered spotting throughout. Previous owner's bookplate to the front pastedown. Good. …