The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillana, newly translated from the French of A.R. LeSage by Martin Smart; embellished with one hundred copper-plates

by Alain René Le Sage

London: T. Gillet for Richard Phillips, 1807-1812

4 volumes  |  12mo  |  160 x 100 mm

Volume 2 dated 1812, all others 1807. First and only edition of Martin Smart's translation, excepting the large paper edition here reported by the publisher.  ¶  Illustrated with 100 copper plates, including several library scenes, and many signed by Tomlinson or Warner (some misbound, but all present). Publisher's ad at end of v. 4 for a large paper edition of Gil Blas and a matching edition of Don Quixote. Includes a translator's preface and life of the author.  ¶  Apparently an unrecorded variant of this Phillips edition, as records in OCLC and Copac offer no evidence for any volumes dated 1812, as found here with a cancelled v. 2 title page.

PROVENANCE:  "D. Milne 1813" inked on each front paste-down.

CONDITION:  Contemporary sprinkled brown calf; spines with black leather labels and gold tooling.  ¶  Lacking final leaf of v. 4 (additional publisher's ad?); spines badly rubbed, the first two volumes lacking their labels; mild scattered foxing; light dampstaining to last two plates in v. 1; v. 2 frontispiece and title leaf attached by single thread; inky fingerprint on verso of plate facing p. 289 in v. 2.  ¶  A robust, decadently illustrated set in contemporary bindings.

Item #11