CRICHTON - A ROMANCE

 written by: WILLIAM HARRISON AINSWORTH

 Published by: LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, 186, STRAND – MDCCCXLIX - 1849

THIRD REVISED, EDITION

 With Illustrations by: HALBOT KNIGHT BROWNE

Hablot Knight Browne (10 July 1815 – 8 July 1882) was an English artist and illustrator. Well known by his pen name, Phiz, he illustrated books by Charles Dickens, Charles Lever, and Harrison Ainsworth.

What is rather magnificent about this book is that inside it had an old note, written in ink, on an old piece of brown paper, and hand-written by Harold Locke, who was himself an author and made famous for his work as Arthur Conan Doyle's first official biographer. 

The note states:

1st Issue of this Work:

This contains the 14 pictures by G.C. [George Cruickshank]

only 9 of which appear in the 1st & 2nd Edition.

5 of the best pictures having been

omitted, from the important editions,

because 1/6 can't buy much.

END

beneath is written in another hand:

Harold Locke's writing.

N.B. there is other writing just beneath the top line but I cannot decipher this.

----------------------------------------

There is a bookplate for 'Barne' on the inside front board.

Mr Frederick Barne

Former MP for Dunwich has signed the book on the title page: 

'Frederick Barne, 

Dunwich, April 11th, 1858'

Frederick Barne was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1830 to 1832. In 1830 he was elected Member of Parliament for the rotten borough of Dunwich, the previous MP being his father. He held the seat until 1832 when it was abolished under the 1832 Reform Act. 

Condition:

THE BINDING:

Green cloth with blind tooling and decoration to the front and rear board. The boards are completely loose from the page block. The spine is faded to brown, it still has the gold gilt lettering, You can see the small chip three quarter ways down the spine. Majority is present. Repairs are most certainly needed on this cover.

THE BOOK WITHIN:

The first blank end page and the frontispiece with tissue guard are separated from the rest of the page block, but they are present.

The decorated front full title page comes next. Soiled, water stained, cracked at several different places, but again still present.

There are a few pages that have a water stain throughout the book.

Roughcut. 353 pages with a further page of advertisements to the rear, which mention:

'The Lancashire Witches'

by Mr. Ainsworth.

Overall; a fair condition only, with, quite frankly, amazing additions.

Thank you for your interest.

 E N D


 

MY REF: 001107