Of London [Some Account of London]

First edition. vi, [2], 430pp, [8], with one fold out illustration, 12 further full page plates. Half bound in brown calf leather over marbled boards. All edges sprayed blue. Tall 8vo. . Boards worn, heavily rubbed at edges, corners, joints and spine ends, rounded on corners, scuffed and marked with some marbled paper scarred away. Endpapers spotted, small doodle on front paste down, hinges obviously but effectively reinforced. Frontispiece and title page absent (in the absence of the title page, edition identification taken from internally evidence – number and composition of plates, ‘were’ at the base of piii, instructions to bookbinder, no list of subscribers which appeared in later editions, title limited to ‘Of London’ compared to ‘Some Account of London’ in later editions, etc). Some spotting and hint of toning on first and last few leaves, fold out is damaged, worn at edges and cracked on creases, some offsetting from plates. A witty yet detailed account of the history of London from Roman times. Very hard to find, desirable despite its only ‘fair’ condition grading.