1844 Rare First Edition - Saint James's: or, The Court of Queen Anne by William Harrison Ainsworth illustrated by Cruikshank.
(Description)
Author: AINSWORTH, William Harrison.
Title: Saint James's: or, The Court of Queen Anne. An Historical Romance. With Illustrations by George Cruikshank. In Three Volumes.
Publisher: London, John Mortimer, Adelaide Street, Trafalgar Square, 1844. First Edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 8 " X 5 ".
Pages: viii, 299, iv, 295, iv, 383 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good, near fine leather binding, finely bound in full morocco with gilt ruled edges and devices at corners of both covers, spine elaborately gilt decorated with two morocco labels, gilt decorated dentelles (hinges fine, overall slightly scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. Upper edges gilt.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight, some light foxing and staining - as shown, Coat of Arms of the Majori Banks family - Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks, 1st Baron Tweedmouth - by way of a red circular disk on the first endpaper - as shown, also a maritime bookplate of Robert J. Hayhurst on the first endpaper - as shown. He was a Lancashire retail chemist and bibliophile, a discriminating collector of antiquarian literature, and also an 1882 paper clip on the death of Ainsworth on the second blank -as shown).
Illustrations: Complete with the beautiful 9 full-page illustrations by George Cruikshank.
Estimate: (USD 1000 - USD 1250)
The books: Rare and very attractive First edition of Saint James's: or, The Court of Queen Anne. An Historical Romance. With Illustrations by George Cruikshank in a beautiful 3 volumes bound in morocco.
St. James's is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in 1844. It describes the events surrounding the end of Queen Anne's reign and the dispute between the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough with two Tories for influence over the queen. It was also first published as a three-volume set in 1844 by John Mortimer. The work was illustrated by George Cruikshanks, which marks the last time that Ainsworth and Cruikshanks collaborated on a novel. The story takes place during the end of Queen Anne's reign. She was friends with the Duchess of Marlborough, and two Tories, Robert Harley and Henry St John, want to separate the Duchess and the queen. After plotting, they are finally able to separate the two, which allows them to remove the Duke of Marlborough from the queen's favour. Without the Duke around, Harley is made Earl of Oxford and St. John made Viscount of Bolingbroke. When Queen Anne dies, Harley and St. John turn against each other and soon lose their status at court.
The author: William Harrison Ainsworth (4 February 1805 – 3 January 1882) was an English historical novelist born at King Street in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket. Ebers introduced Ainsworth to literary and dramatic circles, and to his daughter, who became Ainsworth's wife.