1811 · London
by Dibdin, Thomas Frognall
London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme: & Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1811. Together two volumes in one. Thick 8vo. [iv], 87 pp.; x, [2], 782 [2] pp. Bound in full contemporary green morocco, gilt decorated borders on the boards, gilt spine; joints expertly repaired; some residual rubbing and some foxing to the text throughout.
The 1809 edition, number of copies printed unknown, is illustrated with a title-page vignette only. Its great success The 1811 edition, printed in an edition of 700 copies, is illustrated with printer's marks, portraits, views of libraries etc.., plus two plates, one a hand colored caricature of a bibliophile.
Called by William A. Jackson "Dibdin's best known, and in later editions, most useful book. Written in less than a month, it marks the first full flowering of Dibdin's love affair with books; it had the effect of producing much innocent mirth and exciting a general curiosity after rare and precious volumes." A facsimile edition of the 1809 edition appeared in New York in 1864.
Windle & Pippin, Thomas Frognall Dibdin 1776-1847, A Bibliography, 11a & 11c. (Inventory #: 1186)
The 1809 edition, number of copies printed unknown, is illustrated with a title-page vignette only. Its great success The 1811 edition, printed in an edition of 700 copies, is illustrated with printer's marks, portraits, views of libraries etc.., plus two plates, one a hand colored caricature of a bibliophile.
Called by William A. Jackson "Dibdin's best known, and in later editions, most useful book. Written in less than a month, it marks the first full flowering of Dibdin's love affair with books; it had the effect of producing much innocent mirth and exciting a general curiosity after rare and precious volumes." A facsimile edition of the 1809 edition appeared in New York in 1864.
Windle & Pippin, Thomas Frognall Dibdin 1776-1847, A Bibliography, 11a & 11c. (Inventory #: 1186)