//Caricature
  • Two volumes 23.2 x 15.6 cm, uniformly bound in full polished calf by Riviere and Son (signed on fep verso), boards with triple gilt fillet border, spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, gilt-lettered labels; dark blue endpapers, armorial bookplate of William Jennings with the motto “Honor Virtutis Premium” to front pastedown. Vol. 1: THE | ENGLISH SPY: | An Original Work | CHARACTERISTIC, SATIRICAL, AND | HUMOROUS. | COMPRISING | SCENES AND SKETCHES IN EVERY RANK OF SOCIETY, | BEING | PORTRAITS | OF THE | Illustrious, Eminent, Eccentric, and Notorious. | DRAWN FROM THE LIFE | BY BERNARD BLACKMANTLE. | THE ILLUSTRATIONS | DESIGNED BY | ROBERT CRUIKSHANK. | {vignette w/inscription: ‘By Frolic, Mirth, and Fancy gay, | Old Father Time is borne away.’ | — |  LONDON : | PUBLISHED BY SHERWOOD, JONES, AND CO. | PATERNOSTER-ROW. | – | 1825. || Collation: [a]8 b4 B-H8 I4 K2 L-Z8 2A-2E8 2F3; total 221 leaves Pagination: [i-iii] iv-xxiii [xxiv] [1-3] 4-417 [418]; total 442 pages. Illustrations: 35 coloured plates, 1 uncoloured plate, and 29 woodcuts in text, incl vignette on title, all but four by Robert Cruikshank, 1 by G. M.B rightly (p. 335), 1 by T. Wageman (p. 413), and 2 by T. Rowlandson (pp. 411 and 416) Vol. 2: THE | ENGLISH SPY: | An Original Work | CHARACTERISTIC, SATIRICAL, AND | HUMOROUS. | COMPRISING | SCENES AND SKETCHES IN EVERY RANK OF SOCIETY, | BEING | PORTRAITS | OF THE | Illustrious, Eminent, Eccentric, and Notorious. | DRAWN FROM THE LIFE | BY BERNARD BLACKMANTLE. | THE ILLUSTRATIONS | DESIGNED BY | ROBERT CRUIKSHANK. | — | VOL. II. | — | {vignette w/inscription: ‘By Frolic, Mirth, and Fancy gay, | Old Father Time is borne away.’ | — |  LONDON : | PUBLISHED BY SHERWOOD, GILBERT, AND PIPER, | PATERNOSTER-ROW. | – | 1826. || Collation: [A]-Z8 2A-2C8; total 208 leaves. [i-iii] iv-xv [xvi] [1-3] 4-399 [400]; total 416 pages. Illustrations: 36 coloured plates and 25 woodcuts in text. Catalogue raisonné: Martin-Hardie pp. 191-2; Tooley pp. 266-9; Abbey 325, pp.272-4 (see reflections regarding the ‘first issue’). Contributors: Charles Molloy Westmacott (British, c. 1788 – 1868) – author. Isaac Robert Cruikshank (British, 1789 – 1856) – artist, engraver. G. M. Brightly (British, fl. 1809 – 1827) – artist, engraver. Thomas Charles Wageman (British, 1787-1868) – artist, engraver Thomas Rowlandson (British, 1757 – 1827) – artist. Thomas Davison (British, 1794 – 1826) – printer. Sherwood, Jones, and Co. (London) – publisher. Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper (London) – publisher. William Jennings – provenance
  • Description: One volume, collated 4t0, 27.3 x 20 cm, bound in contemporary quarter black chagrin, gilt ornaments and lettering to spine (reliure à l'époque romantique), marbled end-papers; printed on wove paper (vélin fort). Title-page (red): UN | AUTRE MONDE | TRANSFORMATIONS, VISIONS, INCARNATIONS | ASCENSIONS, LOCOMOTIONS, EXPLORATIONS, PÉRÉGRINATIONS | EXCURSIONS, STATIONS || COSMOGONIES, FANTASMAGORIES, RÈVERIES, FOLATRERIES | FACÉCIES, LUBIES || MÉTAMORPHOSES, ZOOMORPHOSES | LITHOMORPHOSES, MÉTEMPSYCHOSES, APOTHÉOSES | ET AUTRES CHOSES | PAR GRANDVILLE | [device] | PARIS | H. FOURNIER, LIBRAIRE-ÉDITEUR | RUE SAINT-BENOIT, 7 | M DCCC XLIV Pagination: ff, [2] half-title in red / imprim., [2] blank / frontis. in black, [2] title page in red / blank, [1] 2-295, [1] explication and erratum, bf, illustrations. Collation: 4to, (1)-(37)4 with frontispiece, 133 woodcut vignettes, 15 full-page black woodcuts, and 36 hand-coloured plates. Catalogue raisonné: Carteret (p. 285) describes the book as 'in-8', but the collation is actually in quarto (in-4, or 4to) with series signed in Arabic numerals. Ray (French): p. 275-7. The publication is anonymous, however, Grandville reveals the author's name (that's Taxile Delord) on the vignette on p. 292 at the bottom of the plate (under ICI).  
  • A series of seven political caricatures with indecent content, ink and pigment on paper, bound in a grey-blue folder. Each drawing is pasted to a grey-blue sheet of paper 32 x 24 cm. PLATES: 1) Villette; Bazaine; Alvarez Rull: 250 x 192 mm
    Villette Adieu, cher maréchal, je réponds de mon dard C’est un morceau d’acier… Là bas, sur le rempart, Sa cartouche à la main, dans un cul qui le charme, Lançant à gros bouillons son foutre de gendarme Plantin plante Delille et lui font le Caisson. Bazaine Sur ton vit de dragon Sur le nœud de Plantin, sur le cul de Delille, Je ne t’oublierai pas, Villette, adieu, je file Et je vais baiser ma femme. Alvarez Rull (à Josépha) Il ne saurait tarder, Ton epoux va venir, mais tu me fais bander, Le parfum de ton con me monte à la cervelle, Ma gaule se raidit . Josépha, la nacelle Est dans l’ obscurité, là haut, le ciel est noir, Bazaine en descendant ne peut t’ apercevoir … Pour la dernière fois, torche moi la houlette. Bazaine Eh ! là bas, du canot, j’allume une allumette!
    Villette Farewell, dear Marshal, I vouch for my dick. It’s like a steel rod … Over there, on the ramparts, Plantin, his dick in hand, pounds Delisle’s beckoning ass And fills it with his bubbling gendarme’s cum. Bazaine For your dragoon’s dick, For Plantin's prick, for Delisle's ass, I won't forget you, Villette, goodbye, I'm leaving And I'm going to fuck my wife. Alvarez Rull (to Josépha) Hurry up, Your husband is coming, but I got a hard on you, The scent of your cunt penetrates my brain, My rod stiffened. Josépha, the gondola Is in the dark, the sky is black, Bazaine coming down and cannot see you... Give me one last blowjob.

    Bazaine Hey! Over there, from the canoe, I light a match!

    French marshal Achille Bazaine capitulated to Bismarck during the Franco-Prussian war on 27 October 1870. In 1873, he was tried for treason and received a death sentence, later commuted to 20 years' imprisonment. Bazaine was incarcerated in the Fort Royal on Île Sainte-Marguerite, from which he escaped on August 9–10, 1874, with the help of Colonel Villette [Willette], his wife Josefa [Pepita Peña], and her nephew Alvarez Rull. They sailed to Genoa in Italy and from there to London. Plantin and Delisle were prison guards. The story was described in detail during the Trial of Col. Villette and his Accomplices in 1874 and published later in Robert Christophe. La Vie tragique du maréchal Bazaine. — Paris: Vautrain Jacques, 1947.
    2) Impératrice Eugénie: 218 x 165 mm
    Ça, Français, mes amis, regardez sa matrice, Et quand vous aurez vu, vous serez tous certains Que le cul si vanté de votre Impératrice, N’est pas autrement fait que le cul des putains!
    That, French, my friends, look at her cunt, And when you have seen, you will all be certain That the so acclaimed ass of your Empress, Is no different than the ass of whores! 3) Napoléon III: 215 x 168 mm
    J’ai pris Paris, mon oncle a pris Berlin et Vienne. Comme lui je languis en exil …… et là bas, On abat sa colonne; Ici, je fous la mienne…. Triste et cruel retour des choses d’ici bas!! Chilshurst 1871. [i.e. Chislehurst]
    I took Paris, my uncle took Berlin and Vienna. Like him, I, too, languish in exile. His column there was demolished; I’m jerking mine off here…. Cruel and sorrowful deeds!! 4) La confession: 216 x 168 mm (Georges Darboy?) 5) Napoléon III et Thérèsa (chanteuse Désirée Emma Valladon): 216 x 176 mm
    C’est toi de tout Paris la meilleure chanteuse, Thérèsa mon enfant, chante-moi ton sapeur. C’est toi de mes Etats la meilleure fonteuse.. Thérèsa je t’en prie … Ouvre-moi ton sapeur!
    You, the best singer in all of Paris, Teresa, my child, sing for me where to insert. You are the best padding in my entire country… Teresa, please... Open your slit for me! 6) Thiers: 219 x 168 mm
    Maintenant, je me fous de votre République, Des Versaillais et des Prussiens, Aussi, tous les matins, je me branle la pique A la santé des Parisiens!
    Yes, I don’t care about your Republic now, About Versailles and the Prussians, And every morning I jerk off For the health of Parisians! 7) Émile Ollivier/Rochefort/Jules Favre/Gambetta : 212 x 168 mm
    « — Emile Ollivier, raidis bien la houlette! — Enfonce ton ringard mon petit Rochefort!! — Jules Favre mon vieux, redresse bien la tête De ton vi! — Gambetta, pousse encore plus fort!!! »
    Emile Ollivier, tighten your dick! - Stick in your poker, my little Rochefort!! - Jules Favre, old man, straighten your dickhead Damn it! – Gambetta, push even harder!!!
    Characters: Bazaine, François Achille (French, 1811 – 1888) Darboy, Georges (French, 1813 – 1871) Favre, Jules (French, 1809 – 1880) Gambetta, Léon (French, 1838 – 1882) Montijo, Eugénie de (Spanish-French, 1826 – 1920) Napoleon III [Bonaparte, Charles-Louis Napoléon] (French, 1808 – 1873) Ollivier, Émile (French, 1825 – 1913) Peña Azcárate, Josefa [Peña, Pepita] (Mexican-French, 1847 – 1900); Alvarez Rull – nephew of Josefa Peña Azcárate. Rochefort, Henri (French, 1831 – 1913) Thérésa [Valladon, Désirée Emma] (French, 1836 – 1913) Thiers, Adolphe (French, 1797 – 1877)
       
  • Hand-coloured etching by Thomas Rowlandson, printed on May 30, 1810, in London; № 20 from the series The Caricature Magazine or Hudibrastic Mirror Vol. 2. Description by Metropolitan Museum (59.533.978): "Guests of a dinner sit at a long narrow table in a magnificent room with an ornate ceiling. Two men and a young woman serve wine, one drawing a cork, the others spilling wine over the guests. Another waiter spills soup in an elderly guest's face. A woman and a little girl with a begging dog play tambourine and triangle at left." Inscribed in plate lower left: "Rowlandson Del."; bottom centre: "A TABLE DHOTE, OR FRENCH ORDINARY IN PARIS." Our copy is lacking the publication details: "Pub.d May 30. 1810 by Tho.s Tegg 111 Cheapside, London." and similar to the copy in Boston Public Library (18_03_000394). Dimensions: Sheet 27 x 40.5 cm; Image: 23.5 x 35 cm. Contributors: Thomas Rowlandson (British, 1756 – 1827) – artist. Thomas Tegg (British, 1776 – 1846) – publisher.
  • One volume collated 8vo, 19 x 14 cm, bound in black alligator leather. Front wrapper  (green) / title-page (white): A female figure smoking a pipe next to a beer mug, reclining over an arch ring lettered “…VERSITÉ” (UNI… not shown), her dress ribbon lettered “MUSA STUDIORUM”, holding a book lettered “SCIENTIA”; within the arch « ALMANACH | CROCODILIEN | DÉDIÉ | AUX ÉTUDIANTS BELGES. | BIBLIOTHÈQUE | DE LA JEUNESSE MUSULMANE. »; below lies a book lettered “1856.”, next to it is a smoking skull; three male figures embracing the arch columns. Half-title: ALMANACH CROCODILIEN | POUR | L’ANNÉE BISSEXTILE, MAIS NÉANMOINS DE GRACE | 1856. || Pagination: [1-5] 6-14 [15-41] 42-134 [137] 138, total 136 pages within the wrappers, original publisher's green wrappers preserved, carte de visite ‘Félicien Rops, Étudiant’ and pink invitation card № 129 for ‘Bal des femmes’ on March 19, 1892 at ‘Fête annuelle du Courier Français’ bound in; in-text woodcuts, initials, head- and tail-pieces after Félicien Rops. Bookplate “Ex Libris Marcellus Schlimovich” with motto “Ars naturam adiuvat” on front pastedown. Stamp of the "Sociedad Hebraica Argentina / Coleccion M. Schlimovich / Varios / No. 2-492” to half-title. Pencil inscription to half-title: "Ex. Félicien Rops" – possibly an own copy of the artist. Collation: π2 1-88 92, total 68 leaves within wrappers. Printer: Typ. de J. Vanbuggenhoudt (Bruxelles). Sociedad Hebraica Argentina; Marcelo Schlimovich (Argentine-Jewish, ca. 1880 – 1960) – provenance. Félicien Rops (Belgian, 1833 – 1898) – artist.
  • Hardcover volume 28.5 x 20.8 cm, quarter brown morocco over marbled boards, ruled in gilt, spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, gilt lettering, marbled endpapers, top margin gilt, original lithographic wrappers designed by A. Willette preserved; pp.: [4] h.t., t.p., [1] 2-350 [2], 300 b/w ils in-text and 12 coloured photomechanical reproductions extraneous to collation; collated in-4o: π2 1-444; Title-page: L'ART DU RIRE | ET DE | LA CARICATURE | PAR ARSÈNE ALEXANDRE | 300 FAC-SIMILÉS EN NOIR ET 12 PLANCHES EN COULEURS | D’APRÈS LES ORIGINAUX | {vignette} | PARIS | ANCIENNE MAISON QUANIN | LIBRAIRIES-IMPRIMERIES RÉUNIES | 7, RUE ST-BENOIT | MAY & MOTTEROZ, DIRECTEURS || Contributors : Librairie-Imprimerie réunies (Paris, 1880-1908) – publisher. Arsène Alexandre (French, 1859 – 1937) – author. Adolphe Willette (French, 1857 – 1926) – artist (wrapper)
  • Le Grelot / journal illustré politique et satirique, №21, dimanche, 3 septembre 1871. Artist: Caporal (signed in the lower-left corner) Engraver/Printer: J. Lefman (signed LEFMAN SC in the lower-right corner) Title: LE COUP D'ÉTAT DU 4 SEPTEMBRE  1871. The Coup d'Etat of September 4th 1871. The artist equalled the 4th of September revolution when Napoleon III was ousted and the Second Empire collapsed, to a coup d'Etat. Although the number is marked September 3, it is dedicated to the events of September 4th. This was a usual French newspaper practice to postdate their issues. That's why they almost always operated with categories such as "today", "yesterday", and "tomorrow" instead of definitive calendar dates. "Le Grelot" means "The Sleigh Bell". Personages: Ratapoil – fictional personage invented by Honoré Daumier (French, 1808 – 1879), a Napoleon III caricaturized figure. Ratapoil is addressing the audience holding up Napoléon Bonaparte's tricorn cocked hat. Pietri – Joseph Marie Piétri [Joachim Piétri] (French, – is sitting in the first row, taking notes. Rouher – Eugène Rouher (French, 1814 – 1884), president of the Senat. Canrobert – François Marcellin Certain de Canrobert (French, 1809 – 1895), French Marshal, captured by the Prussian army in Metz with Marshal Bazaine during the surrender of Metz on October 28, 1870. Ollivier – Olivier Émile Ollivier (French, 1825 – 1913), head of the government. Hiding behind the theater decoration are: Napoleon III (Lui!), his wife Eugénie (Elle!), their son Prince Imperial (Le P'tit!), and Pierre Bonaparte (L'Autre). Sitting in the theatre box facing the scene: Adolphe Thiers (French, 1797 – 1877), Jules Favre (French, 1809 – 1880), Louis-Jules Trochu [Le General Trochu] (French, 1815 – 1896), and the other members of the "Government of National Defence". On the gallery: youngsters and two men in sans-culottes hats. An unidentified person on a ladder holding to an eagle figure is having a paintbrush and a bucket with 'tender green' paint. Ref: Musée Carnavalet
  • Description by British Museum (1865,1111.2128): "Two designs, side by side. [1] A dandy (probably a portrait), florid, whiskered, and bearded, steps jauntily from the pavement, hand extended, saying: Ah! my dear fellow — How are you? Devilish glad to see ye!— He holds a closed umbrella, ferrule erect, and wears a long tight-waisted coat to the heels, unbuttoned, tight pantaloons and spurred boots. In the middle distance, another dandy grasps the hand of a friend on horseback. Behind are houses with shop-fronts. A man raises his hat to a lady who curtseys. [2] The same dandy steps from the roadway onto the pavement, his handkerchief to his nose; he stoops, trying to conceal himself from a dandy cantering past in a cloud of dust, his eye-glass to his eye. He is without gloves, extraordinary for a dandy, and his trousers are strapped over pumps; he says: Con-found it! — Didn't expect to meet Him!! The street is otherwise empty; against the (large) houses are scaffolding and a tall ladder." Lettered with title, text within image including production details: 'Ego. delt / Etched by G. Ck / Pubby J Fairburn Broadway Ludgate Hill August 18 1826'. Dimensions: Sheet: 25.5 x 36 cm, Image: 21.7 x 33.8 cm. Catalogue raisonné: A. M. Cohn (1924): № 1001, p. 262.: "A wretched plate. Difficult to believe G. C. had anything to do with it." — Bruton. Value.— £1.
  • Hand-coloured etching by L. Schlemer from Nürnberg, printed in c. 1815. Napoleon, with long ears, is seated on a throne made of a pile of crockery, which is falling over. Referring to the Battle of Waterloo. See p. 134 in vol. 2 of  A. M. Broadley. Napoleon in caricature, 1795-1821. — London, New York: John Lane, 1911.
  • Title: Life in Paris ; | COMPRISING THE | RAMBLES, SPREES, AND AMOURS, | OF | DICK WILDFIRE, | OF CORINTHIAN CELEBRITY, | And his Bang-up Companions, SQUARE JENKINS | AND | CAPTAIN O’SHUFFLETON ; | WITH THE | Whimsical Adventures of the Halibut family ; | Including Sketches of a Variety of other Eccentric Characters in the | FRENCH METROPOLIS. | BY DAVID CAREY |[Vignette]| Embellished with Twenty-One COLOURED PLATES, representing SCENES from REAL LIFE, | designed and engraved by Mr. GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. | Enriched also with Twenty-Two Engravings on Wood, drawn by the same Artist, and | executed by Mr. WHITE. | LONDON : | PRINTED FOR JOHN FAIRBURN, BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL; | Sold by Sherwood, Neely, and Jones ; Langman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown ; and | Baldwin, Craddoc, and Joy ; Paternoster-Row ; Simpkin and Marshall, Statio- | ners’ Court ; Whittakers Ave-Maria-Lane ; Humphrey, St. James’s | Street ; and Wilson, Royal Exchange. | 1822. ||

    Edition: 1st edition in book form, 1st issue; large-paper copy bound from the parts in original blue paper boards, "most scarce" (Cohn).

    Pagination: ffl, [i, ii] – h.t. ‘LIFE IN PARIS’ / ‘MARCHANT, Printer, Ingram-Court, London’, [2] – blank / Frontispiece (Ville la Bagatelle!!) hand-coloured, [iii, iv] – t.p. with vignette / blank, [v] vi-xxiv, [1] 2-489 [490 blank], [2] – 'TO THE BINDER' and 'Marchant, Printer, Ingram-Court, Fenchurch Street' "considered indispensable to a complete copy" (Cohn) / blank, bfl watermarked 1800; 21 hand-coloured aquatints and 22 wood-engraved text vignettes; cancelled leaves 143/4 and 335/6; pinholes from printing visible in most gatherings.

    Collation: 4to; [a]-c4, B-Z4 Aa-Zz4 3A-3Q4 3R1 + [Ω]1

    Binding: Original boards sometime re-backed with red paper, binder's end leaf watermarked 1800; red hard-grained morocco clamshell box.

    Catalogue raisonné: Albert M. Cohn, 1924: № 109 p. 37/8; Abbey, J. R. (Life in England), 112; Tooley (Some English Books with Coloured Plates) 129; Hardie (English coloured books) 199.

    Description of Shapero Rare Books, London: Of the copies that have come to auction since 1975 only one has been a large-paper copy in original boards. "The pictures are extremely spirited and true and are all the more wonderful in view of the fact that the artist’s continental experiences were limited to one day spent in Boulogne." (Hardie). In 1821, the journalist Pierce Egan published Life in London, an immediate success illustrated by the Cruikshank brothers, George and Robert. In order to capitalise on this success, another journalist, David Carey, decided to publish his own Life in Paris in monthly instalments (just like Life in London) and with a very similar frontispiece to the one that appears in Egan’s work; Life in Paris, however, was illustrated only by George Cruikshank. One of the earliest and most notable examples of the work of George Cruikshank, with fine, clean plates.
  • Title: Revolution, Krieg und Streik, | Weltausstellung und Volksfest | Der Illustrator und Karikaturist | Leo von Elliot (1816–1890) | von Eckhart G. Franz | Hessische Historische Kommission Darmstadt 2000 || Series: Arbeiten der Hessischen Historischen Kommission, Neue Folge Band 17. Pagination: [1-6] 7-340, 458 b/w illustration. Binding: hardcover, red pictorial boards, 30 x 21.5 cm.
  • Etching and drypoint on wove paper, depicting a woman with a face mask on her buttocks. Monogrammed in the plate 'FR'. Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.

    Dimensions: Papaer: 22.2 x 18.5 cm; Plate: 17.5 x 13.3 cm; Image: 15.5 x 12 cm.

    Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 448; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 106; Rouir 648.

  • Sanguine print on toned China paper pasted on cream wove paper sheet, depicting a dressed-up man trying to copulate with a hanged sow. Inscription on top of the plate: "Ne faites pas aux truies ce que vous ne voudriez pas qu'on vous fit", and below: "Visection" (sic.). Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.

    Dimensions: Paper: 26.8 x 20.6 cm; India paper: 21.5 x 16.2 cm; Image: 19.3 x 14.2 cm.

    Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 661; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 42.

  • Title: GEORGE CRUIKSHANK'S | OMNIBUS. | ILLUSTRATED WITH ONE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL | AND WOOD. | "De omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis." | EDITED BY LAMAN BLANCHARD, ESQ. | LONDON : | TILT AND BOGUE, FLEET STREET. | MDCCCXLII. Pagination: ffl, [2] – blanks [i, ii] – blank / engraved t.p. w/guard, [iii, iv] – t.p., colophon] [v], vi – contents, [vii, viii] – h.t. / blank, [ix] – list of etchings on steel, [x] – list of wood-cuts, [2] – blank, frontis. engraves portrait of G. Cruikshank; [1] 2-300 [2] – blanks, bfl; 22 full-page steel engravings (three not by Cruikshank) and 78 woodcuts. As per A. M. Cohn: i-ii+i-viii+1-2+1-300. Binding: 24 x 14 cm, later full red morocco by Kelly and Sons with gilt and embossed designs to covers, designs, title and year lettering to spine, facsimile in gilt of Cruikshank's signature to front cover, gilt line to inner edges, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Armorial bookplate of Harold A. Wernher of Luton Hoo to front pastedown. Major-General Sir Harold Augustus Wernher (1893 – 1973) – British military officer. Originally bound in green, then red cloth, this binding by Kelly and Sons (Packer, Maurice. Bookbinders of Victorian London. London: British Library, 1991 page 84). A. M. Cohn № 190, p. 65-66. Motto translation: (About all things and something more besides).
  • Title: GEORGE CRUIKSHANK'S | TABLE-BOOK. | EDITED BY | GILBERT ABBOTT À BECKETT. | ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. | LONDON : | PUBLISHED AT THE PUNCH OFFICE, 92, FLEET STREET ; | AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. | MDCCCXLV.|| Pagination: ffl [2 blanks] [i, ii - engaved t.p. w/guard, verso blank] [iii], iv - letterpress t.p., colophon] [v], vi - list of engravings on still and on wood, [vii] viii - contents [2 - blank, engraved frontispiece] [1] 2-284 [2 blanks] bfl; 12 full-page steel etchings and 116 woodcuts and glyphographs by G. Cruikshank. Binding: Hardcover, 4to, 24.4 x 17 cm, later full red morocco by Kelly and Sons with gilt and embossed designs to covers, designs, title and year lettering to spine, facsimile in gilt of Cruikshank's signature to front cover, gilt line to inner edges, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Armorial bookplate of Harold A. Wernher of Luton Hoo to front pastedown. Major-General Sir Harold Augustus Wernher (1893 – 1973) – British military officer. Originally bound in red cloth, this binding by Kelly and Sons (Packer, Maurice. Bookbinders of Victorian London. — London: British Library, 1991 page 84). Title without the bottom section with lettering, on top lacking the 'Price one shilling', № 1, Vol. 1. inscriptions. Catalogue raisonné: A. M. Cohn № 191, p. 66-67.  
  • Vol. 1: Title page (red and black): THE | COMIC HISTORY OF ENGLAND • | BY GILBERT ABBOTT A'BECKETT. | {vignette with one line caption} | WITH TEN COLOURED ETCHINGS AND ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY | WOODCUTS, | BY JOHN LEECH. | VOL. I. | PUBLISHED AT THE PUNCH OFFICE, 85, FLEET STREET. | MDCCCXLVII. || Pagination: [iii-iv] – t.p. / imprint., [v]-vi – preface, [vii]-viii – contents, [ix]-xii – list of ills. [1] 2-320, lacking half-title otherwise as called for by Tooley (1935) p. 161. Collation: 8vo; π3 b2 B-X8 plus 10 plates, incl. frontispiece, of hand-coloured steel engravings and 120 in-text woodcuts by John Leech. Vol. 2: Title page: similar but “VOL. II.” And “MDCCCXLVIII”; typeface “with ten coloured…” is different (sans serif). Pagination: [iii-iv] – t.p. / imprint., [v]-vi – advert., [vii]-viii – contents, [ix]-xii – list of ills. [1] 2-304, lacking half-title otherwise as called for by Tooley (1935) p. 161. Collation: 8vo; π3 b2 B-U8 X2 plus 10 plates, incl. frontispiece, of hand-coloured steel engravings and 120 in-text woodcuts by John Leech. Binding: two volumes 22 x 14.5 cm each uniformly bound in full tan calf with gilt double-fillet border, spine gilt in compartments with red and green morocco labels lettered in gilt, blind-stamped dentelle inside, blue marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, additional flyleafs at the front and end. Catalogue raisonné: Hardie p. 210-11; Abbey, Life № 434, p. 362; Tooley (1935) p. 161 Contributors: Gilbert Abbott à Beckett (British, 1811 – 1856) – author. John Leech (British, 1817 – 1864) – artist. Bradbury & Evans (Whitefriars); William Bradbury (British, 1799 – 1869); Frederick Mullett Evans (British, 1804 – 1870) – printer. Punch – publisher.
  • Woodcut pictorial title page (red and black): THE | COMIC | HISTORY | OF | ROME | By GILBERT ABBOTT À BECKETT. | ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN LEECH. | BRADBURY AND EVANS, 11, BOUVERIE STREET. || Pagination: [iii-iv] – t.p. / imprint., [v]-vi – preface, [vii]-viii – contents, [ix]-xii – list of ills., [1] 2-308, lacking half-title (i-ii) otherwise as called for by Tooley (1935) p. 162. Collation: π1 b4 B-U8 X2 plus 10 plates, incl. frontispiece, of hand-coloured steel engravings and 98 in-text woodcuts by John Leech. Imprint: “LONDON: | BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.”; same in the colophon on p. 308, in one line. Binding: 22 x 14.5 cm, full tan calf with gilt double-fillet border, spine gilt in compartments with red morocco label lettered in gilt, blind-stamped dentelle inside, marbled endpapers, additional flyleaf at the end (binding similar to 2-volume “The Comic History of England” LIB-2847.2021, making three volumes in total). Edition: 1st thus (in book form), without “and Co.” in the imprint on t.p. verso. Catalogue raisonné: Tooley (1935) p. 162. Catalogue raisonné: Hardie p. 210; Abbey, Life № 435, p. 365-6; Tooley (1935) p. 162. Contributors: Gilbert Abbott à Beckett (British, 1811 – 1856) – author. John Leech (British, 1817 – 1864) – artist. Bradbury & Evans (Whitefriars); William Bradbury (British, 1799 – 1869); Frederick Mullett Evans (British, 1804 – 1870) – printer.
  • Hardcover, 25.2 x 17 cm, quarter burgundy shagreen with raised bands and gilt lettering to spine over turkish marbled boards and endpapers, publisher’s wrappers preserved. Title-page: JEAN BERLEUX | LA | CARICATURE POLITIQUE | EN FRANCE | PENDANT LA GUERRE, LE SIÈGE DE PARIS | ET LA COMMUNE | (1870–1871) | {vignette} | PARIS | LABITTE, ÉM. PAUL ET Cie | LIBRAIRES DE LA BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE | 4, RUE DE LILLE, 4 | – | 1890 || Collation: 4to; π8 1-274 282, plates within collation; total 118 leaves. Pagination: [i-ix] x-xvi, [1] 2-217 (printed 317) [3], total 236 pages, profusely illustrated, incl. in-text and full-page b/w ils, all within pagination. Condition: Good, scattering foxing, pencil marks. Contributors: Maurice Quentin-Bauchart [pseud. Jean Berleux] (French, 1857 – 1910) – author. Georges Chamerot (French, 1845 – 1922) – printer, president of the 'Chambre syndicale des imprimeurs typographes', married to Claudie Viardot (French, 1852 – 1914) in 1874 – printer. Labitte, Ém. Paul et Cie (Paris) – publisher, Adolphe Labitte (French, 1832 – 1882); Émile Paul (French, 1847 – ?). Another copy in poor condition: LIB-1653.2016, and another, a modern reprint: LIB-0814.2015.