The Works of The Reverend Dr. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's Dublin. With An Account of His Life and Writings, 1762-68 | 19 Volumes

"The Works of the Reverend Dr. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick’s, Dublin, with an Account of His Life and Writings, As Also, historical and Explanatory Notes, and A Great Number of Original Pieces, in Verse and Prose. The Whole Properly Digested. In Eleven Neat Pocket Volumes, Printed in a New Beautiful Silver Type" published in Dublin by George Faulkner between 1762 and 1768. This attractive 19-volume set brings together the writings of Jonathan Swift, one of the great satirists of eighteenth-century literature. Among the highlights is "Gulliver’s Travels," illustrated with an engraved frontispiece of Captain Lemuel Gulliver and five additional engraved plates, including maps. The collection also features illustrated editions of "A Tale of a Tub" and "A True and Full Account of the Battle, Fought last Friday, Between the Antient and the Modern Books in St. James’s Library."

16mo (3.25" x 5.25"), complete in 19 volumes. Bound in full tan mottled calf, with six gilt spine bands forming compartments, decorative gilt lettering on tan leather labels, and gilt volume numbers on matching inlays. All edges are lightly speckled red. Volume I includes an engraved frontispiece portrait of Swift; Volume XI has an engraved frontispiece and five plates accompanying *A Tale of a Tub*.

Condition: Overall, a beautiful antique set with expected wear. The bindings show edgewear, several bumped and rubbed corners, occasional minor chipping with very small losses at the spine ends, and some light scuffing to the boards. Previous owners’ names appear in old ink on the front pastedowns of Volumes III and VI. In Volume XI, page xxiii has a small, thumb-sized piece missing from the bottom corner. The title page of Volume XI is dated 1756. Despite these imperfections, this is a handsome eighteenth-century collection for admirers of Swift, classic satire, Irish literary history, and antiquarian leather-bound books.