1809 Rare Book Set - Life and Exploits of Don Quixote de la Mancha, Illustrated

Author: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Translated from the original Spanish by Charles Jarvis (Jervas).
Title: The Life and Exploits of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha. To Which is Prefixed a Life of the Author.
Publisher: London, Printed by C. Whittingham, Goswell Street, for John Sharpe, opposite Albany, Piccadilly, 1809. Complete set of 4 volumes.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 5" X 3".
Pages: Vol. I: xxvii, 292 pp.; Vol. II: 324 pp.; Vol. III: 327 pp.; Vol. IV: 328 pp., including the Notes at the rear of each volume.
Binding: Very good original contemporary full mottled calf bindings. Complete in four volumes. The spines are decorated in gilt with ornamental floral tools and gilt volume roundels. Hinges remain tight, one lower inner hinge partly cracked but firm. Moderate rubbing and wear to the extremities consistent with age. An attractive and entirely original early nineteenth-century set under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content. The text remains clean and highly readable throughout, with light age toning and occasional scattered foxing. A few creased page corners are present as shown. Complete and sound.
Illustrations: Complete with the four engraved frontispieces and the four engraved pictorial title pages, one in each volume, after designs by Thomas Stothard.

Estimate: (USD $400–600).

The books: This attractive miniature edition of Don Quixote was issued by the celebrated publisher John Sharpe in 1809 as part of his series of finely printed pocket classics. Although small enough to fit comfortably in the hand, the edition is remarkably readable and beautifully produced, combining elegant typography with engraved frontispieces and pictorial title pages.

Containing the classic translation by Charles Jarvis, long regarded as one of the finest English versions of Cervantes' masterpiece, this edition presents the complete adventures of the errant knight Don Quixote and his faithful companion Sancho Panza in four compact volumes. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Don Quixote had already become one of the most beloved works in European literature, admired equally for its humor, humanity, and profound reflections on idealism, imagination, and reality.

Miniature Sharpe editions have become increasingly sought after by collectors for their combination of literary importance, elegant production, and survival in original contemporary bindings. Complete sets retaining all engraved plates are particularly desirable.

The author: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616) is widely considered the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the most influential authors in world literature. His Don Quixote, published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, is often described as the first modern novel. Through the unforgettable adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, Cervantes created a work whose wit, psychological depth, and universal humanity continue to captivate readers more than four centuries later.

The translator: Charles Jarvis (1675–1739), sometimes spelled Jervas, was an Irish portrait painter, writer, and translator best remembered for his celebrated English translation of Don Quixote. First published in 1742, shortly after his death, Jarvis's translation was widely praised for its fidelity to Cervantes' original Spanish and remained one of the standard English versions throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The illustrator: Thomas Stothard (1755–1834), whose designs inspired the engraved plates in this edition, was among the most important British book illustrators of the Georgian period. His graceful and highly narrative compositions helped define the visual appearance of many literary classics and remain admired for their elegance and refinement.