Practical Education: or, The History of Harry and Lucy: Vol. II. (all published) [SIGNED]

Litchfield: Printed by J. Jackson. And sold by J. Johnson, St. Paul's Church Yard, London., 1780. 1st Edition . Fair. 4 x 5 inches (10.5 x 13 cm). Signed by Author. Volume II (all printed). Unbound with only the first few pages held by cords, most gatherings are detached. Lacking leaves C4 and C5 (pp23-26) and the final leaf I8 (pp126). Also lacking the engraved plate after p102. Dog-eared to corners, light stains to a few pages. Contemporary ink markings to several pages to assist in the reading of the words. Bertha Coolidge Slade, in her 1937 book 'Maria Edgeworth 1767-1849', notes: 'No copy of vol. I of this 1780 edition of Practical Education has been located and it is possible that none ever existed... Undoubtedly only a small number of vol.II were printed, experimentally... Of the four copies located, all belonged to the Edgeworth family'. ESTC actually records 5 copies: Cambridge University Library (2 copies in the Rare Book Room); Oxford University Bodleian Library; UCLA, Department of Special Collections; and Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. A sixth copy was sold at Sotheby's in 2010 for £7500. This example comes from the private library of the Beaufort family. Richard Lovell Edgeworth married Frances Anne Beaufort in 1798, she was his fourth wife and a year younger than his eldest daughter Maria. The two women became close friends and Maria was in frequent contact with many members of the Beaufort family. In 1838 the families became doubly connected when Honora Edgeworth (Richard Lovell Edgeworth's daughter by his third marriage to Elizabeth Sneyd) married Francis Beaufort - Richard Lovell's brother-in-law. This unique copy has been inscribed by Richard Lovell Edgeworth to the leading blank: 'To Mrs. Waller by her obliged friend the Author. By a piece of authorship legerdemain this (which never was published) is to become part of the 2nd vol. of(?) the parents assist.(?)' This would indicate that the book was presented in 1796. Waller was the maiden name of Frances Anne Beaufort's mother, it appears therefore that this item was gifted to an aunt on her mother's side or possibly her grandmother, Anna Maria Waller. An important and exceptionally rare item that laid the foundations of Maria Edgeworth's landmark work 'Practical Edition' published in 1798. Disbound and lacking 5 pages of text, but with wonderful provenance and bearing the inscription of the author. ESTC T211330. Sadleir 794. Slade pp5-7. From the same Beaufort collection we have several other items, including a copy of Maria Edgeworth's first published work, 'Letters for Literary Ladies'. Overall condition is Fair. International postage will be less than the stated rate. Actual costs are Europe £9.95; USA £13.45; Oceania £13.65; Rest of World £12.20. A postage refund will be made after the order has been placed. Size: 4 x 5 inches (10.5 x 13 cm). Hardback. Printed pages: 16mo. xv, [1] (blank) pp1-22, (lacking pp23-26), pp27-126, (lacking pp127 and final blank)