The Works

T H E

MISCELLANEOUS WORKS

OF

TOBIAS SMOLLETT, M.D.

WITH

M E M O I R S

OF

HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS.

BY

ROBERT ANDERSON, M.D.

IN SIX VOLUMES

E D I N B U R G H :

MUNDELL & SON and VERNOR & HOOD

_____

1800

DESCRIPTION

(ii) + cxxix + 480pp + (ii)

(ii) + viii + 454pp + (ii)

(ii) + xii + 501pp + (ii)

(ii) + viii + 447pp + (ii)

(ii) + iv + 559pp + (ii)

(ii) + iv + 541pp + (ii)

Books measure 220mm x 140mm approximately.

Nicely bound in full tan mottled calf. Spine with gilt-ruled bands with intricate motif decoration in gilt to compartments, and black and red title and volume labels. Plain end-papers and paste-downs.

CONDITION

Good general condition overall. All bindings are holding firm. Volumes II, IV, V and VI have some degree of cracking of varying length to rear and / or front hinges, but no loose boards. Some scuffs and surface scratches, small losses of leather to board edges and to spine heads and feet of some volumes, and bumping to corners. Internally, the pages are uniformly browned, with a few spots and foxing marks more so to end-papers and title pages. Each volume has a small neat ink inscription to front end-paper dated 1825. Volume VI has a small relevant newspaper cutting pasted in (see image).

A handsome set of Smollett's works in nice bindings.

Please refer to the photo images for a clear indication of both condition and content.

INTERESTING

Tobias George Smollett (1721 to 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) and The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771), which influenced later novelists, including Charles Dickens.

He was educated at the University of Glasgow, where he qualified as a surgeon. His career in medicine came second to his literary ambitions; in 1739 he went to London to seek fortune as a dramatist. Unsuccessful, he obtained a commission as a naval surgeon on HMS Chichester and travelled to Jamaica, where he settled down for several years.

Smollett's first published work was a poem about the Battle of Culloden entitled "The Tears of Scotland", but it was The Adventures of Roderick Random which made his name. His poetry was described as "delicate, sweet and murmurs as a stream." The Adventures of Roderick Random was modelled on Le Sage's Gil Blas and published in 1748.