The Works of William Makepeace Thackeray, Cabinet Edition, 22 Volumes by Thackeray, William Makepeace - 1872

Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co, 1872. Cabinet Edition. Hardcover. Good Some pages in various books are loosening but binding is not compromised, and is surprisingly well preserved. Spine ends of all volumes have some rubbing and chipping. Overall condition is actually very good in terms of antiquarian standards/No dust jacket. 20.5 mm x 14.5 mm. Preliminaries of earlier edition (possibly first) published by Smith, Elder & Co., London, are bound in at the front of some volumes. These include the engraving-illustrated frontispiece, tissue paper, and title page, also illustrated with an engraving. Illustrations in some volumes are by author; some volumes are illustrated by others. Handsome, cinnamon-brown cloth, gilt-lettered spine and gilt illustration of Thackeray's bust, front cover. Dark brown end papers. No indication is given whether this is the complete set. Christie's Collectors Guides: How to Buy Rare Books By William Rees-Mogg suggests that one may prefer to put together a less-expensive, interestingly difficult collection of the secondary, clothbound "book-form" issues (such as this) rather than collecting the originally issued "parts", in paper wraps. Dates of publication range from to 1871 To 1872. The Cabinet Editions were issued as a way to sell more books to the masses. As is characteristic of these, they were put together cheaply. The uniqueness of this offering is that they are rare in this quantity as an ensemble, and in this condition. Includes (alphabetized by omitting the word "The") Adventures of Philip, volume 1 and 2; Ballads and Tales; Barry Lynden; Book of Snobs; Burlesques; Catherine: a Story, Little Travels, The Fitz-Boodle Papers, ETC. ETC., in one volume; The Christmas Books of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh, Mrs. Perkins's Ball, and other stories in one volume; Dennis Duval, Lovel the Widower, and other stories, in one volume; The Four Georges: Sketches of Manners, Morals, Court, and Town Life and the English Humorists of the Eighteenth Century in one volume; History of Henry Esmond; History of the Pendennis, volumes 1 and 2; Irish Sketch Book; The Newcomes volume 1 and 2; The Paris Sketch Book; Vanity Fair, volumes 1 and 2; Roundabout Papers (from the Cornhill Magazine), to which is added The Second Funeral of Napoleon; The Virginians volumes 1 and 2. In the book The Four Georges, the oval, sepia-colored, portrait engraving of George IV is bound in upside down and mislocated in the section on George III. Thus, the portrait of George III is missing, but the portraits of the other 3 Georges are included.