“AN ARTIST OF RARE TALENTS, BOTH IN HUMOUR AND PATHOS”

(CRUIKSHANK, George) MERLE, William Henry. Odds and Ends. In Verse and Prose. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London: Longman et al., 1831. Small octavo, later full tree calf rebacked with original elaborately gilt-decorated spine laid down, raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. $985.

First edition, containing 12 wood engravings and one etching by Cruikshank. Beautifully bound by Riviere & Son.

"Cruikshank attained great celebrity as an artist of rare talents, both in humour and pathos" (Allibone, 456). "George Cruikshank succeeded his father and James Gillray as England's chief artist in comic ephemerae of all sorts. He could toss off city types and scenes from memory… and possessed an enthusiastic middle-class following. Cruikshank was at his best as an interpretive illustrator in books that permitted him to exercise his talent for comic exaggeration without distorting the author's intent" (Hodnett, 114). Merle's Odds and Ends escapes the notice of most Cruikshank scholars. Cohn 552.

Board edges expertly restored. A fine copy, beautifully bound.