KNIGHT'S LONDON, 1851, SPLENDIDLY ILLUSTRATED AND BOUND
(LONDON) KNIGHT, Charles. Knight's Cyclopaedia of London, 1851. London: Charles Knight, (1851). Thick octavo, contemporary full brown pebbled morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spine and covers, raised bands, all edges gilt. $950.
First edition of this encyclopedic survey of London, presumably produced to coincide with the Great Exhibition of 1851, richly illustrated and very handsomely bound in full contemporary morocco-gilt.
"During the 1830s and 1840s Knight became a well-known and respected figure in London literary, publishing, and political circles… In the 1840s… he had contributed as author as well as editor to such works as Old England and The Land we Live in, early illustrated examples of the tourist and heritage literature which is now a staple of British publishing" (ODNB).
Interior clean, just a few minor rubs to extremities. A very handsome volume in near-fine condition.