II.—A BOOK ATTRIBUTED TO MARRYAT, ONE EDITED BY HIM AND OTHERS POSSIBLY WRITTEN WITH HIS HELP
1836
THE FLORAL TELEGRAPH: A New Mode of Communication by floral signals. With Plates. London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. MDCCCXXXVI. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾). Pp. xv + (i) + 307 + (11). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (309) to (318)—others face title-page. The book contains six hand-coloured plates, printed separately. Olive-green cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Yellow end-papers.
Notes—(i) This book was published in December, 1836. It was reissued, probably in 1850, with a cancel title-page reading: “The Floral Telegraph or Affection's Signals” by the late Captain Marryatt [sic] R.N., author of Peter Simple etc. London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. The pagination reads: xv + (i) + 324. Pp. xv + (i) + 189 + (1) are identical in the two editions, which are probably to this point composed of the same sheets. The second half of the book has, however, been reset, altered, and extended. The illustrations are the same as in the earlier edition, but they are much more coarsely reproduced and mechanically coloured. Olive-green cloth, similar to the first edition, but differently blocked in gold. Yellow end-papers.
(ii) It is a moot point whether or not Marryat was the author of this rather foolish little book. That he had, however, definite connection with it is suggested by the fact that on its first publication the “Metropolitan Magazine,” at that time closely identified with Marryat, devoted to it a three-quarter-page highly laudatory review, of which, after praising the introduction, the writer said: “Though no name is found on the title-page, it is evident that the work is from a practised and popular writer.” Further, if Marryat were not the author, it is difficult to understand the publishers' motive in reissuing it immediately after his death with his name on the title-page. If he deserves responsibility for the book, the manœuvre is comprehensible enough, especially on the part of a firm with whom he had severed relations in 1837, and thus deprived them of the profitable exploitation of his established reputation.
1836
RATTLIN THE REEFER. Edited by the author of Peter Simple. “All hands reef top-sails—Away, Aloft!” London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, Successor to Henry Colburn. 1836. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. xii + (ii) + 301 + (3). Note by Marryat stating his connection with the work occupies p. (iv). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (303) (304).
Vol. II. pp. viii + 300. No half-title to this volume.
Vol. III. pp. viii + 344. No half-title to this volume.
Each volume contains three full-page etched illustrations by A. Hervieu, of which one is a frontispiece and the other two in the course of the text. A list of illustrations for the three volumes occupies p. (xiii) of Vol. I. The illustrations are dated 1836. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
Note—This book, which was written by Edward Howard (see p. 100), was published on July 23, 1836. A second edition appeared on August 5 of the same year. A dramatic version by J. T. Haines (who also dramatized Jacob Faithful) was issued in February, 1893, as No. 2008 in French's Acting Editions of British Plays.
Two-thirds of the story appeared serially in the “Metropolitan Magazine” under the title, The Life of a Sub-Editor. Reviewing the book in its three-volume form, Marryat himself explained fully how and to what extent it had been transformed from a record of autobiographical fact to a frank experiment in fiction.
NOTE
The six items that follow are, like Rattlin the Reefer, the work of Lieut. the Hon. Edward Granville George Howard, who worked as sub-editor to Marryat on the “Metropolitan Magazine.” At one time the actual authorship of Howard's books was ascribed to Marryat himself. This is now proved to be a mistake. Indeed, apart from the note of recommendation to Rattlin the Reefer and Marryat's review of that book in his magazine, there is no printed evidence that he had any share whatever in the composition of any one of them. On the other hand, he and Howard were very intimate; the stories of the latter are clearly influenced by the work of his chief; and Marryat collectors have been in the habit of regarding Howard's books as desirable adjuncts to a Marryat collection. For which reasons, and because it is no less probable than improbable that Marryat, in conversation if not by actual pencraft, helped to give his sub-editor's books their final shape, I have thought well to include them in this bibliography.
1837
THE OLD COMMODORE. By the author of Rattlin the Reefer. “Nestroque!” London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1837. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 306.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 304.
Vol. III. pp. iv + 307 + (1).
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
Notes—(i) This book was published on September 16, 1837.
(ii) The above reckoning was made from a rebound copy from which clearly flyleaves were missing.
1838
OUTWARD BOUND: Or A Merchant's Adventures. By the author of Rattlin the Reefer, The Old Commodore etc. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street. 1838. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 299 + (1). No half-title.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 308 + (2). Half-title to this volume. Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (309) (310).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 326. Half-title to this volume.
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
Note—This book was published in March, 1838. The story appeared in part as a serial in the “Metropolitan Magazine” under the title Ardent Troughton.
1839
MEMOIRS OF ADMIRAL SIR SIDNEY SMITH, K.C.B. ETC. By the author of Rattlin the Reefer etc. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty. 1839. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 9).
Vol. I pp. vii + (i) + 400.
Vol. II. pp. vii + (i) + 411 + (5). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (413) to (416). No half-titles.
Steel-engraved portrait frontispiece to each volume, printed separately. Pale blue ribbed cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers.
1840
JACK ASHORE. By the Author of Rattlin the Reefer, Outward Bound etc. etc. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street. 1840. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. xvi + 310.
Vol. II. pp. viii + 300.
Vol. III. pp. vii + (i) + 323 + (1).
Steel-engraved portrait frontispiece to Vol. I. printed separately. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
1842
SIR HENRY MORGAN: The Buccaneer. By the author of Rattlin the Reefer, Outward Bound, Jack Ashore etc. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street. 1842. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. vii + (i) + 295 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. vi + 307 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. vii + (i) + 315 + (1).
There is a portrait frontispiece to Vol. I., lithographed and printed separately. Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
1859
TALES FROM BENTLEY. Vol. I. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, 1 vol. Pott 8vo (4 × 6¼). Pp. (iv) + 96. Buff paper wrappers printed in black. Also in boards. The Marine Coast, a story by the author of Rattlin the Reefer, occupies pp. 55 to 88.
Note—This first series of Tales from Bentley was published in September, 1859.
A NOTE ON MARRYAT AS ARTIST
It is well known that Captain Marryat was a painter as well as a writer. Collectors of his written work will perhaps also be interested to know of a published book containing in reproduction some of his drawings. In 1825 or 1826 there appeared the following work:
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BURMESE WAR. Both Series. With twenty-four plates after drawings by Captain Marryat, Thornton and Moore displaying the Operations of the British Forces. London: Published by Thomas Clay. (N.D.) The volume measures 20½ × 13¼, is bound in thick grey paper wrappers lettered in black as above, and contains five engravings of pictures painted by Stothard and D. Cox after drawings by Captain Marryat. The name Kingsbury and Co., 6 Leadenhall Street, appears at the foot of the engravings as their publisher, together with the date 1825.
BENJAMIN DISRAELI
1804-1881
BENJAMIN DISRAELI
It is easier to blame historians and political critics of the life and statesmanship of Disraeli for neglecting his novels, than it is oneself to judge these novels as literature, apart from the huge mass of incident, ambition, and achievement that went to make up the character of their extraordinary author. To attempt in a few pages an estimate of Disraeli as a man of letters were manifestly absurd, seeing that he was rarely that and nothing else. It were doubly absurd, even if possible, to treat in summary of the interactions of his political and literary genius when one of the finest biographies of modern times (and that in six volumes) has already covered every inch of the ground. The only purpose, therefore, which these unauthoritative notes may serve is that of indicating in a few words the development of Disraeli as a novelist and the respective content of his principal books.
Although his novels fall into distinct and different groups, they are all primarily satirical in character. From the moment of the anonymous but sensational appearance of Vivian Grey to that of the publication of Endymion which bore on each of its three volumes the name of the most distinguished statesman of the world, Disraeli held up alike to the follies and the ideals of his age the mirror of a keen and ruthless mind.
But if he gazed on his contemporaries more often from the angle of satire than from any other, he enclosed in their various frames the period portraits that are his books. As a very young man—unknown, ambitious, at once receptive and intensely sensitive—he used as material for fiction not only the incidents of his own life, but, even more, the thoughts and aspirations that filled his teeming brain. Vivian Grey (1826-7), Contarini Fleming (1833), and Alroy (1833) are mainly interesting as autobiography, and to the use of personal experience as material for novel-writing he returned in extreme old age when, looking back from the splendid eminence of his power, he described in the pages of Endymion the long road that he had travelled from obscurity to fame.
Vivian Grey appeared in five volumes, with an interval of a year between the issue of the first two and that of the last three. But for the brilliant publicity given to it by Colburn, the book would have attracted little or no attention. It is a showy, careless pastiche of the society of the day, a gallery of isolated portraits rather than a single composition, attractive to the fashionable public of the time for its thinly veiled presentment of well-known men and women. The reader is further unpleasantly aware that the author's interest in his book did not extend much beyond the first of the five volumes. Young men find it easier to start a book than to finish one, and Disraeli was clearly no exception to the rule.
Contarini Fleming and Alroy, written after an extended tour in the East, show, at its most luxuriant and ornate, the author's talent for heady, rhetorical prose. Like most of his race, Disraeli was more susceptible to magnificence and to decoration than to severe simplicity, and throughout his books was prone to an excessive use of epithet and metaphor. If these two early books show his love of ornament more shamelessly than those written at a maturer age, they can claim nevertheless to have received more careful and conscientious working, so that their embellishments, if too lavish, are at least scrupulously fashioned.
Between the publication of the last three volumes of Vivian Grey and that of the story of Contarini Fleming Disraeli published two works of fiction which, although in the matter of primary characteristic isolated from the rest of his work and from each other, contain elements that constantly reappear in the books of his later life.
The Voyage of Captain Popanilla (1828) is a satire on English political and social institutions cast in the form of an inverted Gulliver's Travels or Erewhon. Instead of an Englishman reaching an imaginary and fantastic land, where he finds conditions that correspond partly to the prejudices, partly to the ideals, of the author, the hero of Disraeli's satire is a being from a mythical world, who comes over the sea to an island that is, in all but name, England as Disraeli saw it. As an example of pertinacious and aggressive parody The Voyage of Captain Popanilla is witty and readable enough, but it fatigues, as do all pastiches of the kind, by its somewhat literal pursuit of contemporary activity. Disraeli should have limited his prospect of satire, for the individual beauties of any view are appreciated in proportion to the smallness of their number. Popanilla is overcrowded, and the reader's mind tires with the effort to solve the riddle that is contained in nearly every paragraph.
The Young Duke (1831) was written to make money. One may go farther and confess that the author, seeking frankly to profit by the contemporary popularity of the novel of fashionable life, wrote a tale of society into which he crammed all that he knew of character and incident likely to appeal to the mood of the moment. With such antecedents it is surprising that The Young Duke is not a worse book than it is. Inevitably it reads artificially, and the young writer had not the skill entirely to conceal the wilfulness with which the work was put together. On the other hand, the heroine deserves the attention of Disraeli students, for she is the direct forerunner of Sybil, and that part of The Young Duke which depends on her personality is not without a touch of the four great political novels upon which Disraeli's fame as a writer must rest.
It was four years after the publication of Alroy that Disraeli next appeared as a novelist. He then published, within six months of one another, two stories that stand markedly apart from the rest of his work, in that they are wholly without political significance. Even amid the extravagance of Contarini Fleming and The Young Duke occur passages that depend for their significance on political movements or political thought of the time. Vivian Grey, being a roman à clef of high society, and Popanilla being a direct satire of institutions, are naturally full of what was, even in those days, the author's ruling interest. But Henrietta Temple (1837) and Venetia (1837) are romances pure and simple. They may be said also to have no autobiographical significance, save in so far as the first part of the earlier book was written under the stimulus of a real love affair. It must be admitted that Henrietta Temple, once it gets beyond the boundary of Disraeli's own passionate experience, is a tame and careless book. The interval that passed between the writing of the earlier and that of the later portion seems to have extinguished his enthusiasm for the work. Colburn was clamouring for a novel, and Disraeli, as always hard pressed for money, raked out his incomplete manuscript, furbished it up, finished it off, and delivered it to the publisher. Venetia has not this fault of interrupted fashioning. It is, however, in one reader's opinion at any rate, a very tedious affair—rhetorical, unreal, and sluggish in movement; but this view is contrary to that held by many, who consider that the book's portraiture gives it value as commentary on the life of Byron and other famous people.
There follows, this time after an interval of seven years, the first of the four famous political novels that, whether or no they can be said to have introduced a new genre into English fiction, are undoubtedly the finest achievements of Disraeli's literary career. Coningsby (1844), Sybil (1845), and Tancred (1847) are too well known to need description here. Because, however, their interdependence as parts of a general scheme in the mind of the author tends to become obscured by consideration of their respective quality, note may be taken of the fact that Coningsby is a novel of political views, Sybil one of social conditions and classes among the people, and Tancred one of religion as an influence in national life. Of the characters in Coningsby many reappear in Tancred, while Tadpole and Taper, whose names have become part of English political slang, pull their wires and cadge their jobs as assiduously in Sybil as in the story that preceded it. It would be interesting to work out a comparison between Disraeli and Trollope as political novelists. Probably one would come to the decision that those of Disraeli are the better political novels and those of Trollope the better novels of politics. In other words, Disraeli is the cleverer publicist, but Trollope the finer artist. Coningsby and its fellows depend very much on contemporary fact and personality for their full understanding and significance. Surely it is not hyperæsthetic to demand that literature be its own interpreter? In so far as a work of art requires outside knowledge for its proper appreciation, to that extent it falls short from what in art is highest and most perfect.
The appearance of Lothair in 1870 caused something of a scandal in serious political circles. The Briton is accustomed to take his statesmen seriously, but his novelists with frivolity and in the leisure hour. Wherefore he regarded it as unseemly that the name of an ex-Prime Minister and of a man whose political career was by no means run should figure on the title-pages of a three-volume novel. Curiosity conquered disapproval and, as on an hundred other occasions, a book condemned for its very existence was purchased and read in tens of thousands. Lothair is the work of a man who knew everybody and almost everything. The personal satire, the constructive and destructive fervour of Coningsby, Sybil, and Tancred have given place to a greater gravity and restraint, to an ironic vision more general and less individual. Taking as his subject the power of the Catholic Church, the rival power of revolutionary free thought and the indeterminate central position of the Church of England, Disraeli built up his fourth and most extensive picture of the England of his time. If we miss the idealist conviction that gives to some of the passages in Tancred the force of a splendid sermon, we gain a certainty and a dignity of thought which were inevitably lacking in the books of the earlier period. We also continue to enjoy the epigram, the vivid minor portraiture, the lightning grasp of fact and of every implication of fact, that give to the political novels of Disraeli their unique flavour and importance.
BIOGRAPHY
THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN DISRAELI, EARL OF BEACONSFIELD. By William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle. 6 vols. London: John Murray. 1912-1920.
I.—EDITIONES PRINCIPES
FICTION, POETRY, ESSAYS, LETTERS, ETC.
1825
AN ENQUIRY INTO THE PLANS, PROGRESS AND POLICY OF AMERICAN MINING COMPANIES. London: John Murray. MDCCCXXV. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¼ × 8½). Pp. 135 + (1) of which p. (6) is paged vi. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
Note—These observations were made from a third enlarged edition published in the first year of issue, and it is likely that the first edition, although similar in format, etc., contains fewer pages.
1825
LAWYERS AND LEGISLATORS: Or Notes on the American Mining Companies. (Quotation from Hooker.) London: John Murray. MDCCCXXV. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¼ × 8½). Pp. (viii) + 99 + (1). No half-title. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
1825
THE PRESENT STATE OF MEXICO: As detailed in a Report presented to the General Congress by the Secretary of State for the Home Department and Foreign Affairs at the Opening of the Session in 1825. With Notes and a Memoir of Don Lucas Alaman. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. MDCCCXXV. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¼ × 8½). Pp. 130. Advertisement of Disraeli's two earlier pamphlets occupies verso of half-title, facing title-page. Pp. (6) to 55 are occupied by a Memoir of Don Lucas Alaman, written by Disraeli. Alaman's report begins on p. 57. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
1826/7
VIVIAN GREY. “Why then the world's mine oyster which I with sword will open.” London: Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street. 1826 (Vols. I. and II.), 1827 (Vols. III. IV. and V.). 5 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (vi) + 266 + (2).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 236 + (4). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (237) to (240).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 333 + (3). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (335) and (336).
Vol. IV. pp. (iv) + 362.
Vol. V. pp. (iv) + 324.
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
Note—Vols. I. and II. of this story were published on April 22, 1826; Vols. III. IV. and V. on February 23, 1827.
1828
THE VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN POPANILLA. By the author of Vivian Grey. “Travellers ne'er did lie though fools at home condemned 'em.” London: Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street. 1828. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾). Pp. viii + 243 + (1). Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
Note—This book was published on June 3, 1828.
1831
THE YOUNG DUKE: “A moral Tale, though gay.” By the author of Vivian Grey. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1831. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (7⅞ × 4¾).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 300. No half-title.
Vol. II. pp. (vi) + 269 + (3). Text ends p. 269; note occupies p. (271).
Vol. III. pp. (vi) + 265 + (3). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (267) (268).
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
Note—The only copy of this book I have been able to consult in its original state contained at the end of Vol. I. a publishers' catalogue, 8 pp., dated April, 1832. Clearly it did not belong to the first issue, but what date should be found on a catalogue of the earliest issue, where in the three volumes such a catalogue should appear, or whether there should be a catalogue at all, I do not know.
1832
ENGLAND AND FRANCE: Or A Cure for the Ministerial Gallomania. (Quotation from speech by Duke of Wellington.) London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1832. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾). Pp. viii + (xii) + 268. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
Notes—(i) This book was published in April, 1832.
(ii) The above observations were made from a rebound cut copy, and details of measurement are therefore conjectural.
1832
CONTARINI FLEMING: A Psychological Autobiography. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. MDCCCXXXII. 4 vols. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 288.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 247 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 194 + (2). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (195) (196).
Vol. IV. pp. (iv) + 230 + (2).
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
Notes—(i) This book was published in May, 1832.
(ii) The sheets of the Murray edition were issued in 1834 by Edward Moxon, Dover Street, over the name: “D'Israeli The Younger, author of Vivian Grey, Alroy and Ixion in Heaven,” with a new preliminary signature (8 pp.) to Vol. I. containing a preface in explanation of the author's action in putting his name to the book. Consequently from the purist point of view the Moxon edition of 1834 should be collected as containing fresh matter. It was bound in pale maroon cloth, with paper label. Yellow end-papers.
1833
THE WONDROUS TALE OF ALROY: The Rise of Iskander. By the author of Vivian Grey, Contarini Fleming etc. London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. 1833. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. xxv + (iii) + 303 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 305 + (3). Publishers' advertisements, dated February, 1833, occupy pp. (307) and (308).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 324 + (4). Advertisements of works by the same author occupy pp. (325) and (326).
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
Note—This book was published on March 5, 1833.
1833
WHAT IS HE? By the author of Vivian Grey. (Extract from a Letter.) London: James Ridgway, Piccadilly and E. Lloyd, Harley Street, MDCCCXXXIII. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5⅜ × 8½). Pp. 16. Half-title serves as wrapper and bears the words “Price Sixpence.” P. 16 serves as back wrapper. Advertisements occupy p. (2).
Note—The above notation was made from a copy of the “New Edition, Revised” of the pamphlet. Since, however, this first appeared in the same year and over the same imprint, I have ventured to assume comparative uniformity of size and appearance.
1834
THE REVOLUTIONARY EPICK: The Work of Disraeli the Younger. Author of The Psychological Romance. London: Edward Moxon, Dover Street, MDCCCXXXIV. [The title-page to Vol. II. reads in addition: “Books II. and III. containing The Plea of Lyridon, the Genius of Feudalism; and the First Part of the Conquest of Italy.”] 2 vols. Large Post 4to (8¼ × 10½).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 89 + (3).
Vol. II. pp. xi + (i) + (91) to 206.
Advertisement of Contarini Fleming (differently worded in each case) faces title in both volumes. Paper boards. Paper label on sides. White end-papers.
Note—Only fifty copies of this edition were printed. See preface to the second and revised edition published in 1864, details of which are given below.
1834
THE CRISIS EXAMINED. By Disraeli the Younger. London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. 1834. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8½). Pp. (iv) + 31 + (1).
Notes—(i) This pamphlet was issued in December, 1834.
(ii) The above observations were made from a rebound copy, wherefore the style of binding is an assumption, and I suspect that two or more flyleaves—maybe printed with advertisements—should be added to the reckoning here set down.
1835
VINDICATION OF THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION IN A LETTER TO A NOBLE AND LEARNED LORD. By Disraeli the Younger. London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. 1835. 1 vol. Tall Demy 8vo (5½ × 9). Pp. ix + (i) + 210 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (211) and (212). A four-page leaflet of publishers' advertisements should be found inserted between the front end-papers, and an erratum slip at p. (v). Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
Note—This book was published in January, 1835.
1836
THE LETTERS OF RUNNYMEDE. “Neither for shame nor fear this mask he wore That, like a vizor in the battle-field But shrouds a manly and a daring brow.” London: John Macrone, St. James's Square. MDCCCXXXVI. 1 vol. Slim Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 8¼). Pp. (xxiv) [paged as ii + (v) + vi-xx + (ii)] + 234 + (6). Publishers' advertisements, 2 pp., dated August 1, 1836, occupy pp. i and ii. The half-title is inset on different paper between p. ii. and title-page. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers. Also in dark blue embossed cloth, gilt, yellow end-papers.
Note—This book was published in July or August, 1836.
1837
HENRIETTA TEMPLE: A Love Story. By the author of Vivian Grey. “Quoth Sancho, Read it out by all means; for I mightily delight in hearing of love stories.” London: Henry Colburn, 13 Great Marlborough Street, MDCCCXXXVII. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 299 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 309 + (3). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (311) and (312).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 331 + (1).
Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
Note—Although dated 1837, this book was actually published in December, 1836.
1837
VENETIA. By the author of Vivian Grey and Henrietta Temple. “Is thy face like thy mother's my fair child?” “The child of love, though born in bitterness and nurtured in convulsion.” London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13 Great Marlborough Street. MDCCCXXXVII. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 346.
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 377 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 324. Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (i) and (ii).
No half-titles. Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
Note—This book was published in May, 1837.
1839
THE TRAGEDY OF COUNT ALARCOS. By the author of Vivian Grey. London: Henry Colburn, Great Marlborough Street. 1839. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8½). Pp. vi + (ii) + 108. Errata slip facing p. 1. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
Note—This book was published in May, 1839.
1844
CONINGSBY: Or The New Generation. By B. Disraeli Esq., M.P., author of Contarini Fleming. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street. 1844. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 319 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 314.
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 354. Advertisements occupy pp. (351) to (354).
No half-titles. Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
Note—This book was published in May, 1844.
1845
SYBIL: Or, The Two Nations. By B. Disraeli, M.P., author of Coningsby. (Quotation from Latimer.) London: Henry Colburn. Publisher. Great Marlborough Street. 1845. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. p. viii + 315 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 324.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 326 + (2). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (327) and (328).
Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
Note—This book was published in May, 1845.
1847
TANCRED: Or The New Crusade. By B. Disraeli, M.P., author of Coningsby, Sybil etc. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street, 1847. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. (ii) + 338.
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 340.
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 298 + (12). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (299) to (310).
No half-titles. Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
Note—This book was published in March, 1847.
1852
LORD GEORGE BENTINCK: A Political Biography. By B. Disraeli, Member of Parliament for the County of Buckingham. “He left us the legacy of heroes; the memory of his great name and the inspiration of his great example.” London: Colburn and Co., Publishers, Great Marlborough Street. 1852. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¾ × 8¾). Pp. viii + 588. Publishers' catalogue, 8 pp., and measuring 5 × 8, bound in after p. 588. This catalogue is followed by a further single sheet (2 pp.) advertisement, measuring 5 × 8½. Dark olive-brown cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers.
Note—Although dated 1852, this book was actually published in December, 1851.
1853
[*]IXION IN HEAVEN. THE INFERNAL MARRIAGE. THE VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN POPANILLA. THE TRAGEDY OF COUNT ALARCOS. By Benjamin Disraeli. London: David Bryce, 48 Paternoster Row. 1853. 1 vol. Cloth.
This little book—a volume in a cheap reissue of the novels and romances of Disraeli—is the first book edition of Ixion in Heaven and The Infernal Marriage, which first appeared in the “New Monthly” in 1829 and 1830, and had not been reprinted in the interval.
1864
THE REVOLUTIONARY EPICK. By the Right Honorable Benjamin Disraeli. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green. 1864. 1 vol. Small Cr. 8vo (4½ × 7⅛). Pp. (xiv) [paged as (ii) + x + (ii)] + 176 + (2). Preface (in dedication), dated Easter, 1864, occupies pp. (vii) and (viii). Preface reprinted from the original edition occupies pp. (ix) to (xii). Brown cloth, gilt. Chocolate end-papers.
Note—The text of this edition differs extensively both in wording and length from that of 1834. In his preface the author states that the work was completed in 1837, but, through press of political duties, he made no arrangement for its issue before the present date. He also avers that only fifty copies of the edition of 1834 were printed.
1870
LOTHAIR. By the Right Honorable B. Disraeli. (Quotation from Terentius.) London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1870. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 328. Publishers' advertisements, 32 pp., dated January, 1870, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 321 + (3).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 333 + (7). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (337) to (340).
Green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Chocolate end-papers.
Note—This book was published in May, 1870.
1880
ENDYMION. By the author of Lothair. “Quicquid agunt Homines.” London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1880. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 331 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 337 + (3).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 346 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (347) and (348).
Scarlet cloth lettered in silver. Grey and white decorated end-papers.
Note—There are two styles of blocking for the binding of this book; that most worked and bearing publishers' imprint at foot of spine is the earlier.