71 BAUMAN RARE BOOKS “The Greatest Visual Expression Of The Social Class Struggle Ever Published” 80DORÉ, Gustave and JERROLD, Blanchard. London: A Pilgrimage. London, 1872. Large folio (13 by 16 inches), early full red morocco gilt. $5800 First edition, with 54 striking full-page woodengravings and 126 in-text vignettes of “all segments of London society” by Doré. “By 1872, Doré was the most popular artist in England, illustrator or painter. This work was eagerly awaited by the English public, having been postponed by the Franco-Prussian War… The idea was to match Doré’s artistic genius with an in-depth view of all segments of London society—the rich and the poor, the common people at work and play, famous sites and slums, nobility and criminals, Many were the days and nights that Doré went in disguise, with undercover policemen for protection, to see parts of London not listed in any tour guide… The result was a book often hailed as the greatest visual expression of the social class struggle ever published” (Malan, 127). Front inner hinge expertly reinforced, scattered faint marginal foxing, attractive binding about-fine. “How Far His Influence Has Extended Is Incalculable” 81MONTAIGNE. Essays of Michael Seigneur de Montaigne. London, 1685-86. Three volumes. Octavo, contemporary full speckled calf rebacked. $5500 First edition of Cotton’s highly regarded English translation of Montaigne’s essays, considered “among the masterpieces of translation” (DNB), in contemporary calf boards. “Montaigne devised the essay form in which to express his personal convictions and private meditations, a form in which he can hardly be said to have been anticipated. The most elaborate essay, the ‘Apologie de Raimond Sebonde,’ is second to no other modern writing in attacking fanaticism and pleading for tolerance” (PMM 95). “Though regarded with suspicion by the Church and placed on the Index (1676), his work won the admiration of his own and succeeding generations… it was quoted by Shakespeare (in The Tempest) and… inspired the English essay, as developed by Bacon, Cowley, Temple, and Dryden” (Reid, 422). “How far his influence has extended is incalculable” (Harris, 105). First translated into English in 1603. Text generally clean, expert restoration to board edges. A nicely refurbished set of this scarce first English edition.
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