BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF GIL BLAS, WITH 100 HAND-COLORED PLATES

LE SAGE, Alain Rene. The Adventures of Gil Blas. Translated by Martin Smart. London: Richard Phillips, 1807. Four volumes. 12mo, modern full russet crushed morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spines and covers, raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt, brown silk ribbon markers, uncut. $850.

Later illustrated edition in English of an important “influence on 18th-century English comic fiction” (Drabble, 322), illustrated with 100 hand-colored engravings, very handsomely bound by Bayntun.

Originally published in three sections (1715, 1724, 1735), this novel made realism “in all its vitality… a mainstay of the French novel until the end of the old order” (Hollier, 400, 435). Lowndes, 1343.

Engravings bright and fine, very little foxing to text. Minor bump to rear cover of Volume III. A very handsome set in fine condition.