Imitation William Combe (6 results)

Condition: Very Good Minus. 3rd Edition. Third edition, originally issued in 8 parts (1819-1820). An imitation of William Combe's series of Doctor Syntax books, and sometimes wrongly attributed to him. According to Tooley both Thomas Rowlandson and I.R. Cruikshank are credited with the designs for the plates, the balance of opinion favouring Cruikshank. One of the plates however is signed 'Williams'. Rebacked in mauve cloth with paper title label. Boards marked and have wear and bumping to corners. Page edges untrimmed. Slight rippling to margins. Complete with the engraved title page and 19 plates, all hand coloured. Some offsetting from plates to facing page. Slight marking to pages 157-164 where a flower was previously pressed between the pages. A few spots of light foxing, text is generally very clean. Previous owner's bookplate to front pastedown endpaper (Lawrence Stangman). Contemporary owner's name to front free endpaper and upper margin of p1 (Ninian Crawford). A rare uncut example. Tooley 434; Lowndes p2564. . Overall condition is Very Good Minus. Size: 6.75 x 10.25 inches (17 x 26 cm). Hardback. Printed pages: 8vo. iv, [2] (list of plates), 319.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. * The Rare 1821 Reissue. * Near-contemporary tan calf over marbled paper sides, spine elegantly gilt, all edges of text block gilt. Large 4to, pp.vi + 175, title-page faintly dusty and just slightly creased at inner margin, binding a little rubbed or scuffed at extremities, else an excellent mellow copy. ** With handsome 19th century armorial bookplate of James Waller Sidney with motto Quo Fata Vocant. *** The Rare 1821 Reissue : the title calls for 6 plates, but in this copy only the hand-coloured aquatint of the Storming Of St Sebastians is present : drawn & etched by W. Heath : and aquatinted by J. C. Stadler. *** The Wars Of Wellington was originally issued in 1819 with 30 plates : this 1821 Reissue was provided with a new title-page calling for only 6 plates. *** The work is an imitation of William Combe's famous series of Dr Syntax narrative poetical works : here the very long narrative poem is supported by extensive factual prose footnotes. See Tooley 154 describing this as A Syntax Imitation; and see Abbey : Life In England 358. *** A rare book : no copy listed in The Sandler Collection. See COPAC listing 2 copies only of the 1819 Edition [in the British Library and at Birmingham] : and no copies at all of this 1821 Reissue. **** To confirm availability before ordering, please click the link Ask Bookseller A Question.

Half-Leather. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. Third Edition. Iv, 319 pages + list of illustrations + color frontis + 18 hand colored plates. Half-leather and marbled boards. Ex-library. Library binding. "Doctor Syntax" and "Kaiapoi Institute" in gilt on spine. 1.5" splits to ends of joints. Hinges cracked internally. Wear to edges and corners of boards. 2 library stamps on title page. ; 8vo.

FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM. 233 x 143 mm. (9 1/8 x 5 7/8"). iv, [2], 319 pp. Attractive contemporary purple straight-grain morocco, covers with gilt frame in the Romantic style, raised bands, spine compartments framed in gilt with drawer-handle cornerpieces, gilt titling, gilt-ruled turn-ins with drawer-handle ornaments at corners, green watered silk endleaves, all edges gilt. With engraved title page featuring hand-colored vignette and 19 HAND-COLORED ENGRAVED PLATES. Front flyleaf with bookplate of Harald Pedersen, and verso of front free endpaper with bibliographical notes in pencil. Abbey, "Life" 265; Tooley 434. âSpine sunned to maroon, bottom corners a bit rubbed, frontispiece cropped close at foot (with much of the imprint trimmed away), otherwise quite a fine copy--the plates in excellent impressions and pleasantly colored, without the typical offsetting from these kinds of illustrations, and the binding lustrous and with scarcely any wear. With charming illustrations by one or more of the 19th century's leading caricaturists, this work is an imitation of the popular "Tour" books of Doctor Syntax, featuring a pedantic clergyman and schoolmaster meeting with an onslaught of amusing misfortunes in the course of his wanderings. The original "Tour," published in 1812, was conceived of as a parody of the books of picturesque travels then enjoying a considerable vogue, and when it met with a great popular response itself, two more tours followed in 1820 and 1821. Even this could not sate the public, and a number of imitations of the Syntax books, including the present work, were issued. There is some disagreement as to whether Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) or Isaac Robert Cruikshank (1789-1856) created the illustrations here; as Tooley notes, "Both Rowlandson and I. R. Cruikshank are credited with the designs for the plates, the balance of opinion favoring Cruikshank but according to the advertisement . . . more than one artist was employed, or at least a different engraver to the artist." Either way, the amusing illustrations of the follies and faux-pas of the good Doctor Syntax do not disappoint. Aside from being in pleasing condition, our copy also stands out for its particularly attractive contemporary binding.

In The Original Printed Boards The First Dr. Syntax Imitation [ROWLANDSON, Thomas, in the style of]. [COMBE, William, imitation of]. The Adventures of Doctor Comicus, or the Frolicks of Fortune. A Comic Satirical Poem for the Squeamish & the Queer. In Twelve Cantos, by a Modern Syntax. London: Printed for B. Blake. n.d. [1815]. First edition. Octavo (8 7/8 x 5 1/4 in; 226 x 133 mm). [2], 269, [1] pp. Fifteen hand-colored engraved plates including frontispiece and extra-title in the style of Rowlandson. Original printed boards uncut. Neatly rebacked preserving original spine label, new endpapers. Corners a little bumped and creased. Chemised and housed within a later quarter red morocco slipcase. Scarce in original boards. A clever and now uncommon parodic offshoot of the hugely successful Doctor Syntax series, consciously modeled on William Combe's verse and Rowlandson's visual idiom. Although neither Rowlandson nor Combe were directly involved, the book trades knowingly on their fame, adopting the familiar cantos, mock-heroic tone, and episodic structure that had made Doctor Syntax a publishing sensation in the previous decade. Doctor Comicus follows its hapless protagonist through a sequence of misadventures and social embarrassments, using broad humor, caricature, and topical satire to skewer manners, pretensions, and eccentricities of Regency life. The hand-colored plates - spirited, energetic, and intentionally Rowlandsonian - form an essential part of the joke, reinforcing the book's role as both homage and spoof. The first of many imitations of Combe's Dr. Syntax. Another edition was published in 1820 with only twelve colored plates. Reissued in 1828 by Jaques & Wright using the same sheets as the first edition but with their name and later date to titlepage. Abbey, Life 255. Tooley 431. Prideaux, p. 334.

First edition. First edition. 20 hand-colored aquatint plates drawn and engraved by C. Williams. W. Read, et al. 251 pp. Printed by Shackel and Arrowsmith, Johnson's Court. 1 vols. 8vo (255 x 167 mm.). This is a satire on Samuel Johnson"s Tour of the Hebrides. Tooley #433; Abbey Life 277 Bound in original drab boards, with original lending library warning label on upper cover. In half red morocco slipcase and chemise. Bookplate of Reuben Jay Flick and Harris Hollin 20 hand-colored aquatint plates drawn and engraved by C. Williams. W. Read, et al. 251 pp. Printed by Shackel and Arrowsmith, Johnson's Court. 1 vols. 8vo (255 x 167 mm.).