Books

Who lived eight twenty years all alone in an uninhabited Island on the Coast of America near the Mouth of the Great River Oroonoque, Having been cast on the Shore by Shipwereck, wherein all Men perished but himself. With an account of how he was at last as strangely delivered by Pyrates. Written by himself. 1st Edition, Printed for John Stockdale, Piccadilly, 1790. 2 Volume Complete Set in Tree Calf Leather. Royal 8vo. xii 389pp. ii 455pp. xiv. 17 wonderful and iconic illustrations by Stothard, of which 16 copperengraved by Medland after Stothard, including 2 tissueguarded frontispieces, 2 vignette title page illustrations and 14 full page plate illustrations, all present and correct as called for and in excellent order. Very good condition internally, clean tight sound square, no bookplate, inscriptions or ownership marks of any kind, unusually and remarkably free from foxing or browning save to tissueguards, not intruding or detracting in the least, tender to upper hinges holding firm, printed on thick creamy paper with wide margins. Bound in good attractive gilt lettered, dentelled, ruled and decorated full tree calf, bumped to lower leading corner Vol I and rubbed to rest with light loss, some rubbing to boards with small splash to upper Vol II, closed split 2 to 3 hinges. Good shelf presence featuring 7 gilt ruled flat bands, 5 gilt dentelled compartments with gilt ship and anchor vignette decoration and 1 remaining black title label to spines gently chipped to head with very slight loss. 2 Volume set of First Stockdale Edition, with Stothards definitive Crusoe illustrations.2 Volume set of First Stockdale Edition, with Stothards definitive Crusoe illustrations. The story of Robinson Crusoe has been thought to be based upon Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish castaway who lived for four years on an uninhabited Pacific Island, now part of Chile and renamed Robinson Crusoe Island. Upon first publication, Crusoe himself was credited as author, leading readers to believe he was a real person and the book a travelogue. Instantly and wildly popular, the work is often credited as marking the beginning of realistic fiction as a genre, and generally seen as a contender for the first English Novel. It has gone on to become one of the most widely published books in history. 2 Volume set of First Stockdale Edition, with Stothards definitive Crusoe illustrations.

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.