The Comic History of Rome

xii, 308 p. 22 cm. Frontispiece in partial colour, engraved title page with red lettering, 9 other partial-colour plates. 98 b&w line drawings in text. Full leather with gold trim to edges and spine. Burgundy spine labels. 5 raised bands. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Binding signed by Riviere & Son. Hinges and spine head repaired. A little scuffing to boards. Dent in rear fore-edge. Edges of free endpapers darkened. Small tear in half title inner margin and opposite. Plates darkened. A mid-Victorian comic look at Rome, which might be more appealing to some readers than drier, more serious works on the Eternal City. John Leech was a staff artist for "Punch" from its beginnings in 1841, while the author was one of the comic magazine's original staff writers. If Leech's illustrations appear more Victorian than Roman, the effect is purposeful, since the goal of the two men was to critique Victorian society itself. À Beckett displays both a gentle sense of humor and a deep familiarity with the content of the ancient sources. In his Preface he states "this work has been prompted by a very serious desire to instruct those who, though willing to acquire information, seek in doing so as much amusement as possible.".…