Books

Two Volumes. Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies. London. 1820. Large Octavo. xcii, 429pp. Extra illustrated with Frontispiece portrait of Defoe by Michael Vandergucht, engraved by J. Thomson. Title page engraved vignette, 10 further engraved plates; v, 415pp. Engraved Frontispiece (Robinson Crusoe taking leave of his father and mother), 9 further plates. All indexed plates by Thomas Stothard, engraved by C. Heath. Large Paper Edition in a contemporary unsigned elegant full maroon morocco binding, embellished with elaborate gilt and blind tooling to spines, boards, edges and inner boards. Bevelled lozenges to all boards, with blind tooled cross hatching, fleur de lys and floral centrepieces. Lightly rubbed, some scuffing to upper board of Volume II and lower board of Volume I. Marbled endpapers. All edges marbled. Silk bookmarkers. Light offsetting to title pages, occasional spotting, otherwise bright and crisp. A handsome, firmly bound set. DEFOE, DANIEL (1660-1731) A notable…

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, is one of the earliest and most influential novels in the history of English literature. It is a fictional autobiography of the title character, a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers before being rescued. The story is widely perceived as a comment on the British Imperialism of the age and the emerging ideology of the 'self-made man', and it reflects on the author's vast array of experiences.