1793 · London
by Johnson, Samuel
London: J. Buckland, C. Bathurst, and T. Davies, 1793. 4 volumes, 12mo, woodcut frontispiece portrait; contemporary full tree calf, gilt fillets and volume numbers in gilt on the spines; headbands fraying, spine ends a little chipped and a few joints starting, but generally good and sound. "The execrable portrait of Johnson, the shabby appearance of the printing, and that all the respectable booksellers named in the imprint were already dead invite the description of a piracy ... The origin of this edition is unknown, but from the uncertain size of the paper ... it may be suspected that it is Dutch (Groot mediaan) and if so perhaps of Scotch provenance" (truncated)