The Works of Jonathan Swift – 2 Vols (Henry G. Bohn, 1853)

This Henry G. Bohn edition (1853) of The Works of Jonathan Swift in two volumes is of interest to collectors of Swift, 19th century antiquarian sets, and Georgian literature.

About: A very good two-volume set in later orange cloth bindings, gilt-lettered spines. Volume I is very good throughout; Volume II is very good with a small tear to the top of the spine. Both volumes are internally bright with a clean, fresh text block - the pages are crisp and unmarked, a pleasing feature in a set of this age. The first volume includes the engraved portrait frontispiece and the memoir by Thomas Roscoe.

Details:

• Title: The Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of Saint Patrick's, Dublin
• Author: Jonathan Swift
• Editor/Memoir: Thomas Roscoe
• Publisher: Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden, London
• Publication Date: 1853
• Volumes: 2 (complete set)
• Binding: Hardcover, later orange cloth with gilt spine lettering
• Condition (Vol. I): Very Good
• Condition (Vol. II): Very Good (small tear to top of spine)
• Interior Condition: Bright and clean throughout

Synopsis: Complete two-volume Bohn edition of Swift's collected works, containing interesting and valuable papers not previously published, with memoir, portrait, and autograph. A handsome and readable antiquarian set.

Review: Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) remains one of the most formidable prose writers in the English language - satirist, polemicist, and poet, best known for Gulliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal. This Bohn collected edition, edited with a memoir by Thomas Roscoe, gathers Swift's major and minor works into a compact and attractive two-volume set, ideal for the reader and collector alike.