Books

4 vols. 23 [only of 24] hand coloured aquatints by J. H. Clark. Light browning, ex.-libris John A. Irving, contemporary half calf with marbled boards, minor wear to boards, sl. loss to corners, blind tooled compartments with gilt tooled raised bands and gilt lettering to sl. rubbed spines. Has 24 hand-colored aquatint illustrations after John Heaviside Clark's drawings. "They are well conceived and executed. The series, which was engraved for colouring, and is generally, but not always, found coloured, is now difficult to procure" (Ashbee). R�o y Rico, excessively critic, considers these illustrations as very bad. For Givanel, they are revolutionary, a new and humorous way of understanding Cervantes' novel. In Cushing's copy, the distribution of illustrations by volume (I, 7; II, 5; III, 6; IV, 6) is different to that given by Rico (I, 8; II, 7; III, 5; IV, 4). Cushing Library also has a set of 20 plates of these illustrations (four missing). Five of these illustrations also appeared in Edinburgh: Hurst, Robinson & Co., 1822. Description: It includes the Life of Cervantes by G. Mayans. Cervantes Collection --- Cushing Memorial Library & Archives.With the bookplate by Luke Clennell in the style of Bewick (to whom he was apprenticed) of J. Cresswell in a Bewick landscape style. Originally commissioned by William Nicholson but John Cresswell later erased Nicholsons s name and substituted his own. Lee s British Bookplates, 106. Tattersfield pp.182. US$838.

"Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes is a seminal work in Western literature, often regarded as the first modern novel. Published in two parts, the first in 1605 and the second in 1615, it tells the story of Alonso Quixano, a middle-aged gentleman from the region of La Mancha in central Spain. Obsessed with the chivalric romances of the Middle Ages, he loses his sanity and decides to become a knight-errant, renaming himself Don Quixote. He chooses a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, promising him the governorship of an island. The duo embarks on a series of adventures, with Don Quixote seeking to right wrongs and bring justice to the world, driven by his absurdly outdated moral code and understanding of reality. The novel is famous for its satirical examination of the discrepancy between Quixote's fantasy world and the actual world of 17th-century Spain. This theme is most famously illustrated in the episode where Don Quixote fights windmills, mistaking them for giant monsters. Throughout their journeys, the pair encounters thieves, prostitutes, a chain gang, and various other characters, often causing more harm than good in their attempts to help. "Don Quixote" explores themes of truth and justice, the transition from the old world to the new, and the idea of madness versus sanity. Cervantes employs a narrative structure that includes stories within stories, allowing him to critique the social and literary conventions of his time. The novel has had a profound influence on the development of prose fiction and is considered a precursor to the modern novel. It is celebrated for its humor, moral integrity, and its deep humanity, offering a complex reflection on the nature of reality and the importance of empathy.