Marrin's Bookshop

Synopsis

Or mirth and marvels. by thomas ingoldsby, esquire. carmine edition.

Item Description

8vo. 7.75 x 5 inches. xi + [i] + 468 pp. All text within red borders. Bound in half calf over marbled boards; spine in compartments with raised bands, decorated gilt, with contrasting title label, gilt. Marbled endpapers and edges. Extremities a little worn and foxing largely confined to flyleaves, preliminary and end pages and some plate margins, scattered elsewhere; otherwise a very good copy. Illustrated by engraved title in red and black, 6 engraved plates and by engravings in text, by Leech, Cruikshank, etc. Decorated by publisher's device on half title. One volume edition of the first, second and third series of the Ingoldsby Legends, which first appeared in book form in 1840, 1842 and 1846 respectively. It includes the prefaces to the first and second editions. The majority of the illustrations are by George Cruikshank (1792-1878) and John Leech (1817-1864). Richard Harris Barham (1788-1845), Church of England clergyman, was born in Canterbury, his father living in Tappington Everard House, the location of the first story. His knowledge of Kentish legends was developed during his residences as a curate in Ashford and Westwell, and subsequently in the livings of Snargate and Warehorne, until he moved to London in 1821.