The London printing and publishing company

First edition illustrated with 2 engraved titles by J. Moore, a frontispiece portrait and 150 plates on vellum. Several engravers and numerous unsigned plates: Engleheart, Armstrong, Adlard, Davenport, Chevalier, Chavanne...
Publisher's binding in full brown shagreen. Spine with raised bands decorated with 5 small fleurons framed by blind tooling, roulettes at head and foot and on the raised bands. Large decorative panel composed of foliage and geometric ornaments on the boards with a large central cartouche, Hogarth's name in gold on the upper board, in blind on the lower board. Edges gilt. Very fresh copy, with its tissue guards, with occasional rare small worming. Some traces of rubbing, otherwise splendid copy in a rich publisher's binding.
The volumes gather Hogarth's works, with commentary:
Volume 1: Frontispiece, title vignette; Life of Hogarth; Rake's progress (14 plates); Harlot's progress (14 plates); Times of the day (23 plates); France and England (2 plates); The Election (8 plates); Beer street and gin lane (7 plates).
Volume 2: Frontispiece, title vignette; Hudibras (19 plates); The four stages of cruelty (4 plates); Marriage à la mode (6 plates and 29 other plates including several frontispieces of works such as Tristram Shandy...); Don Quixote (9 plates); Four tickets (11 plates)

The London printing and publishing company, London & New-York s.d. (circa 1860), 23.5x31cm, bound.
First edition.
Publisher’s half black and brick-red shagreen, spine in six compartments with gilt floral motifs and blindruled compartments, very lightly soiled, gilt friezes to head and foot, head- and tail-pieces slightly bumped, double gilt fillets to covers, central gilt medallion and portrait of Hogarth to upper cover, corners scratched and rubbed, white moiré silk endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges.
Hors-texte illustrations, introduction by James Hannay.
A little spotting, mostly to beginning and end.