Things as they are; or, the Adventures of Caleb Williams. In Three Volumes. The Third Edition, Corrected
by GODWIN (William):
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
LONDON, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Printed for G. G. and J. Robinson..., 1797. 3 volumes. 12mo, 173 x 95 mms., pp. vii [viii blank], 296; [iv], [3] 4 - 292; [ii], 3345 [346 blank], including half-title in volume 2, contemporary calf, gilt spines, black leather labels, gilt spines (faded), black leather label; occasional staining of text, particularly upper right-hand margin in volume 3, joints a bit worn, but a good set, with the armorial bookplate of Stanley Pershouse onf the front paste-down end-ppaer of each volume and his autograph on the verso of the front free end-paper of each volume, and a mid 20th century inscreiption on the verso of the front free marbled end-paper in volume 1 Although Godwin (1756 - 1836) published this work in 1794, he continued to revise it as late as 1831. The most extensive revisions, however, were made to the second and third editions. Some of the revisions to accidentals were also made by the publishers, so the textual history of the work is a bit of a nightmare. It was the most successful of his six novels, and George Colman adapted it for the stage under the title The Iron Chest. It attracted some hostile reviews, most notably that in 1794 in the British Critic: "his piece is a striking example of the evil use which may be made of considerable talents
every gentleman is a hard-hearted assassin, or a prejudiced tyrant; every Judge is unjust, every Justice corrupt and blind." Godwin replied that the comment was misleading and that his purpose was "expose the evils which arise out of the present system of civilised society; and to lead the enquiring reader to examine whether they are
irremediable
to disengage the minds of men from presuppositions, and to launch them upon the sea of moral and political enquiry."
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Details
- Bookseller
- John Price Antiquarian Books (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 9849
- Title
- Things as they are; or, the Adventures of Caleb Williams. In Three Volumes. The Third Edition, Corrected
- Author
- GODWIN (William):
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- London: Printed for G. G. and J. Robinson..., 1797
- Keywords
- fiction textual criticism
- Bookseller catalogs
- fiction;
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
John Price Antiquarian Books
Payment by cheque, credit card, cash. New customers will be invoiced pro forma. Books may be returned within two weeks for any reason; refund within 1 month for any reason; negotiable after that, but no returns after one year.
About the Seller
John Price Antiquarian Books
Biblio member since 2006
LONDON
About John Price Antiquarian Books
I work from home, but I am happy to see customers at almost any time by appointment.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Verso
- The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- G
- Good describes the average used and worn book that has all pages or leaves present. Any defects must be noted. (as defined by AB...
- 12mo
- A duodecimo is a book approximately 7 by 4.5 inches in size, or similar in size to a contemporary mass market paperback. Also...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
- Paste-down
- The paste-down is the portion of the endpaper that is glued to the inner boards of a hardback book. The paste-down forms an...