“ADVENTURES OF A LADY IN SEARCH OF A GOOD SERVANT”: ILLUSTRATED BY CRUIKSHANK, BEAUTIFULLY BOUND BY RIVIERE & SON

(CRUIKSHANK, George) MAYHEW BROTHERS, eds. The Greatest Plague of Life: or the Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Servant. By One Who Has Been "Almost Worried to Death." London: David Bogue, [1847]. Octavo, early 20th-century full polished tan calf, elaborately gilt-decorated spine, raised bands, black morocco spine labels, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, uncut. $850.

First edition of this satirical Victorian work about managing servants, beautifully illustrated with 12 plates and title page vignette by George Cruikshank, beautifully bound in full calf-gilt by Riviere & Son.

"This book by the brothers Henry and Augustus Mayhew is a good-natured parody on the supposed bane of a lady’s existence in Victorian England: servants. Written from a woman’s perspective, it provides a lively social commentary on the relationship between servants and their mistresses" (Obscure Book Finds). "George Cruikshank attained great celebrity as an artist of rare talents, both in humor and pathos" (Allibone, 456). "Cruikshank was at his best as an interpretive illustrator in books that permitted him to exercise his talent for comic exaggeration without distorting the author's intent" (Hodnett, 114). Cohn 544.

Scattered light foxing. A near-fine copy, beautifully bound by Riviere & Son.