The Bravo. A Venetian Story. By the Author of "The Pilot," "The Borderers," "The Water Witch," &c

London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley..., 1831. FIRST BRITISH EDITION. 3 volumes. Large 12mo, 190 x 111 mms., pp. [ii], iv, 292; [ii], 3090 [310 blank]; [ii], 286, contemporary half green morocco, richly gilt spines with title and volume numbers blocked in gilt, decorative cloth sides; some slight scuffs and marks to binding, but generally a very good and attractive set, with the amorial bookplate of Earl Granville, i. e., Granville George Leveson-Gowe, second Earl Granville (1815–1891), politician and M. P.; and the small binder's stamp for "White 24 Pall Mall" on the top margin of the front paste-down end-paper. Cooper (1789 - 1851) published this edition before the American edition, and it was the only edition that he proof-read. He revised the text for an edition printed in 1834. Mary Shelley reviewed the novel in the 16 January 1832 Westminster Review, without unbridled enthusiasm, but this endorsement would bring cheer to the heart of any writer: "The Bravo displays all the energy, all the singleness of purpose, and a greater grandeur of design than is usually painted by its author. We also trace a greater degree of refinement and grace in those portions of his work, where these qualities were found before to be painfully wanting...." For the binder, see Charles Ramsden: London Binders, 1780 - 1840 (1956), page 148.