The Complete History of England (Vol. I only)

London: Printed for the author by W.Hoggard, in Water-Lane, 1764 Hard cover, in full calf, large 4to. 810pp. Includes 34 original engraved plates and one map; (handwritten note to ffep. suggests a map of France may be lacking.) Some plates signed J. Lodge or Reynolds. Boards with rolled gilt edges. The spine, which has been rebacked, has five raised bands, with a red onlaid label to the second compartment with title in gilt, and an onlaid black label with volume number in gilt on third.compartment. Condition: Good overall, with some light paint splatter and light scruffing to boards, rubbed and bumped corners especially on front. Wear to head endcap. Both hinges have been reinforced with tape. Interior: water stains to endpapers, where some notes in old ink appear to be scrubbed out intentionally. A few repairs with paper tape on preliminaries. Interior text block is age-toned and occasionally with old black ink markings, blots and annotation.** The book includes historical details from Briton's pre-history up to, and including, the reign of Queen Elizabeth I., c. 1603. The HON. EDWARD SEYMOUR has been misidentified by some of the twenty-six institutions holding this scarce work as the 4th Bart of Pomeroy. However, that gentleman's dates (1634-1708) do not fit the publication date of this item. (It would have been a good story though, as even Samuel Pepys is said to have described him in print as so arrogant as to make an unpleasant impression on most of those who met him.) I believe our Edward Seymour (1717-1792) to in fact be the 9th Duke of Somerset, as of 1750 when two lines of the Seymours were reunited. Both gentlemen were, however, distantly related to the famous 1st Lord Somerset, Lord Protector of the Realm in the time of his nephew, King Edward VI, in the Tudor period.**Mapmaker JOHN LODGE , (working circa 1754-1796,) was a highly-regarded London map-maker and engraver, once apprenticed to Thomas Jeffries. His work was featured in various magazines and periodicals of the time, including The Gentleman's Magazine. In fact, the Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle for the Year 1797, Vol. LXVII features an early draft of a plate of coins which appears without attribution on page 645; a more finished version appears in the book for sale on page 137. A bit of snarky correspondence occurs in the magazine's Letters to the Editor declaring the coins to bear "no resemblance whatsoever to any in the English Series." We will leave the evaluation of that charge to our more numismatically-astute readers! Heavy volume, extra cost to ship abroad. OCLC No. 711960699.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good. Illus. by J. Lodge (mapmaker).