THE WORKS OF WILLIAM HOGARTH, IN A SERIES OF ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY STEEL ENGRAVINGS

283 x 217 mm. (11 x 8 1/2"). Two volumes. FINE PUBLISHER'S PEBBLE-GRAIN DARK BROWN MOROCCO, ELABORATELY GILT, covers with a thick gilt-tooled medallion encircling an image of Hogarth sitting in a chair and holding a palette and brushes, at the bottom of the medallion a gothic capital with a bust, books, and palette, each corner with a lacy floral garland in the shape of an "L," all this framed by a thick and thin gilt rule, raised bands, spines ruled and decorated in gilt, gilt lettering, all edges gilt. WITH 150 STEEL ENGRAVINGS (on 145 plates) BY WILLIAM HOGARTH, all with original tissue guards. Front free endpaper of volume I with unmarked ex-libris on a decorative piece of paper; titles with blue ink stamp of J. B. Bennett of Cincinnati, Ohio. One spine band slightly rubbed, trivial wear to the corners, but the bindings otherwise virtually perfect. Volume II with two very small tears to gutter of frontispiece (and its tissue guard), hinges of that same volume with paper covering partly gone, otherwise only trivial imperfections. A REMARKABLY WELL-PRESERVED SET. This is a very fine copy of a substantial set featuring the art of a man whose name is nearly synonymous with social satire. William Hogarth's persistently fascinating engravings are here accompanied by explanatory text commissioned by the artist's widow Jane in 1766 and supplied by the Rev. John Trusler (1735-1820), described by DNB as "an enthusiastic and fearless compiler of others' works." He provides commentary on some of Hogarth's popular series of engravings, including "The Harlot's Progress," "The Rake's Progress," "Election," "Marriage a-la-Mode," "Industry and Idleness," and "Four Stages of Cruelty," plus a number of single works, among them "Sleeping Congregation" and "Southwark Fair." One of the most popular artists of the period, William Hogarth (1697-1764) is today considered to be the first great English painter. Someone who learned to draw from real life, rather than through copying the masters, he is remembered for group portraits such as "The Wedding," for satirical works such as "The Denunciation," and especially for the popular engravings noted above. In addition to his visual offerings, he also contributed to the profession of artist, pushing through what is still referred to as "Hogarth's Act," a statute that protects the copyright of an artist's original designs. Trusler was one of the most enterprising and eccentric figures in the British publishing world. A former priest, he launched an entrepreneurial career (said to be successful) by advertising ready-made sermons (one shilling each), printed in cursive type to look like manuscripts; later, as a printer and publisher, he issued a wide range of books on everything from etiquette to law to get-rich schemes. Finding one edition or another of Hogarth's engravings is not at all difficult, but finding a glowing copy that seems almost untouched--like the present one--is quite difficult.…