Marrin's Bookshop

Item Description

12mo. 5.75 x 3.75 inches. [ii] + 221 pp. + 3 pp. publisher's advertisements. Bound in original red cloth, gilt, decorated with blind stamping within borders and by gilt blocks on spine and front board. Extremities worn including head and tail of spine. Hinges just starting to crack, but otherwise a very good copy. 1847 signature on first free endpaper and initials stamped at head of title. Illustrated by 9 engraved plates including frontispiece and engraved title. A bestselling and influential children's book, which remained popular for a century, contrasting the lives of two boys, one rich but spoiled, the other poor but virtuous. By Thomas Day (1748-89), author and abolitionist, whose work was inspired by the educational ideals of the Genevan philosopher, Jean Jacques Rousseau 1712-78), as exemplified in his treatise, Emile (1762). An abridged version of the three volume first edition published 1783-89. The Darton and Clark edition is scarce with only one copy recorded in Library Hub. It is undated but must have appeared between 1836 and 1845 when the partnership published under this imprint