Cover:  Moroccan Leather, Heavy Decoration & Gilt

Size:  Height ~ 7 & 3/8 inches, Width ~ 5 & 1/8 in.

Publisher:  Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
                No. 13 Astor Place, New York

Pages:  530

Quantity:  1

A really nice antique book of poetry, plays and essays by talented poet, writer and physician Oliver Goldsmith;  c. 1730 - 1774.  This edition also features an Introductory Essay by Henry T. Tuckerman, Esquire, as well as a Critical Dissertation and Memoirs of the author by John Aiken, M.D..

Inside cover features a charming Christmas day inscription reading: Compliments of the Season
                        To Dearest Lou  1893, Xmas   Halle

While there is no publication date, web research of the publisher, Thomas Crowell, indicates that they occupied the Astor Place location from 1881- 1893, so we feel confident that this particular book dates to the 1880's - 1890's Victorian era.

This issue contains Campbell's noted works; The Traveler, The Clowns Reply, The Good-Natured Man, On The Education Of Youth and Rules For Behavior, to list just a few.  There are more very interesting sounding selections, such as; On A Beautiful Youth Struck Blind By Lightning, An Elegy On The Death Of A Mad Dog, Reverie At The Boar's Head Tavern, On Quack Doctors and many more.  A number of songs, stanzas and verses are also included.  I read a sample of the work and found it very entertaining.  The style and use of verbiage is interesting and rather humorous, as well as oftentimes quite poignant and touching.

This book is a particularly beautiful edition, featuring rich brown leather, probably Moroccan, with extensive decoration and heavy gold gilding to both spine and cover.     All exterior page edges are gold gilt.

Interior is just as elaborate, with protective tissue, beautiful engravings and red bordered pages.  There are a number of full page illustrations that I believe are steel engravings, each with their own verse or quote.

The book is in very nice antique estate condition.  We find no rips or tears to pages, just some lightly crinkled upper corners here and there.  With exception to first page inscription noted above and shown third image, we found no writing, marks, underlines, notes, etc.  All pages present;  some light tanning to edges, with an occasional rare foxing speck.  I thought I remembered seeing a small slightly darkened area on one page where I believe a bookmark remained for a lengthy period, however now I am unable to locate, so this may have been another book.   Extremely minor rubbing to spine head, foot & cover corners, with bump to upper front corner and to a lesser degree, back corner.  See first and last images.  Small pucker to leather on spine.   No dust jacket.

Really a very fine antique book, by a noteworthy, quite revered author, famous for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield.  After Goldsmith’s death a monument honoring him was placed at Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey, along with a relief profile medallion and epitaph written by Samuel Jackson, well known poet and biographer who wrote the Dictionary Of The English Language in 1755.

In my humble opinion this lovely old book remains nice enough to be given as a gift to a special friend or family member, as it was likely originally gifted on December 25th, 1893, almost 110 years ago.

We have several similar volumes, all from the same estate and listed separately in this same category.

Antique Book ~ Goldsmith's Poems, Plays & Essays ~ Introduction & Critical Dissertation ~ Moroccan Leather & Gilt, Christmas 1893

$ 44.99