Godwin William Mulready Illustrator (1 results)

William Mulready (1786-1863) (illustrator). Small 8vo. 7 x 4 ½ inches. xi, [1], 273pp. In the original full tree-calf, gilt lettered red Morocco label on spine, gilt ruled. Rubbed at edges, corners bumped, foot of spine frayed. Ownership inscription of Miss Elizabeth Salisbury, Boston, February 12, 1817, on fep, multiplication in ink on pastedown. D.W. Salisbury on front flyleaf, Miss Elizabeth S. Salisbury to verso. Paper uniformly toned with scattered spots of foxing. p. 227 misnumbered 722. p. 231 misnumbered 132 (13 is upside down), p. 264 misnumbered 462. First two leaves of text (p. 1-4) torn at foremargins, p.1-2 with partial loss of engraving and text, p. 3-4 with a small hole affecting image and a few words to verso. Lower inner corner of p. 35-36 (gutter) with loss affecting a few final letters, lower blank corner of p. 41-42 chipped. Lower blank verso of p. 82 with old red wax and paper repair (not affecting text on p. 81), several short, closed tears to blank margins. P. 271-272 was bound in a bit crooked with the text at the foredge (no loss). Few pencil marks. Still a charming example of the scarce first American edition with wonderful woodcuts. Collated, complete. The ownership inscriptions are those of 10-year-old Elizabeth Sewall Salisbury Chauncey (1807-1850), and later, her younger brother, Daniel Waldo Salisbury (1817-1890). The Salisbury family, beginning with Nicholas Salisbury (1694-1748), were prominent merchants from Boston. Elizabeth married Nathaniel Chauncey (1789-1865), a descendant of Charles Chauncey (c.1592-1671), the second president of Harvard. Published under the pseudonym, Edward Baldwin, this collection of fables was the work of William Godwin, husband of Mary Wollstonecraft who died 11 days after giving birth to their daughter, Mary Shelley. First published in London in 1805 by Thomas Hodgkins, a second edition appeared in 1807. The first American was published in 1811 (offered here). According to the New York Public Library, Godwin wrote this book for his children, which was the first book for his Juvenile Library. The illustrations were created by the then 19-year-old William Mulready. [Fables-Children's Literature].