Sale Price:
£650.00
Original Price:
£800.00
1805 1st Edition With Provenance
KIRBY’S WONDERFUL AND SCIENTIFIC / ECCENTRIC MUSEUM
VOLUMES I–V OF VI
THE WONDERFUL AND SCIENTIFIC MUSEUM: OR, MAGAZINE OF REMARKABLE CHARACTERS, including all the Curiosities of Nature and Art, from the Remotest Period to the Present Time, Drawn from every Authentic Source
An attractive five-volume run of R. S. Kirby’s celebrated Georgian cabinet of curiosities, comprising the original editions of volumes I–V, published between 1803 and 1815. The series was completed with a sixth volume in 1820, which is not present here.
One of the most engaging illustrated miscellanies of the early nineteenth century, Kirby’s Museum brings together accounts of remarkable people, extraordinary natural phenomena, criminal cases, medical curiosities, ghosts, mermaids, impostors, inventions, performers and other wonders. The volumes are illustrated with numerous engraved portraits and plates, including folding illustrations.
Uniformly bound in early nineteenth-century half calf over marbled boards, with elaborate gilt decoration and contrasting red and black morocco spine labels. Each volume bears the armorial bookplate of the Viscounts Melville, with the motto “Quod Potui Perfeci.”
By R.S. Kirby
Provenance: Each volume bears the armorial bookplate inscribed “Melville,” with the motto “Quod Potui Perfeci”—“I have done what I could.”
Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville, KT, PC, FRS (14 March 1771 – 10 June 1851) was a British statesman, the son of Henry Dundas, the 1st Viscount. Dundas was the Member of Parliament for Hastings in 1794, Rye in 1796 and Midlothian in 1801. He was also Keeper of the Signet for Scotland from 1800. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1807, a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1817, a Knight of the Thistle in 1821, and was Chancellor of the University of St Andrews from 1814. Melville filled various political offices and was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1812 to 1827, and from 1828 to 1830; his eldest son inherited his title.
Format: Hardcover, Octavo (Standard) (8vo 6 × 9 in 152 × 229 mm )
Note: Binding/size selection follows standard bibliographic conventions and is approximate; exact measurements may vary.
Language: English
Published By: R.S.Kirby, London
Condition Report:
Dust Jacket: No Jacket, Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
Good - An attractive and substantially preserved five-volume set, with considerable shelf presence and generally clean, well-impressed contents. The principal faults affect the bindings rather than the printed leaves and illustrations.
Uniform early half-calf bindings with marbled boards, elaborate gilt decoration and contrasting leather labels. Leather rubbed, faded and dry, with scuffing, abrasions and wear to the boards, corners and extremities. Spine ends and headcaps worn, with some lifting and loss of leather, particularly at the head of volume IV.
Joints cracked or split in places. The front joint of volume I is extensively split, although the board remains attached and is presently holding. Other joints show varying degrees of cracking and wear. Gilt decoration remains attractive overall, and the title and volume labels are substantially intact.
Contents generally clean and legible, with light age-toning, occasional spotting, handling marks and minor offsetting. A pale rectangular offset or discolouration is visible on the title page of volume II. Folding plates retain their original folds and show occasional toning or light wear along the creases. Engraved portraits and plates are generally crisp, dark and well defined.
Old numerical inscriptions or shelf marks appear in several volumes. The Melville armorial bookplate is present in each volume.
A handsome working and display set, particularly appealing for its extensive sequence of striking Georgian engravings and its historic Melville-family provenance.
Collation: Vol. I (1803): iv, 476, [4] pp.;
Vol. II (1804): [2], 486, [4] pp.;
Vol. III (1805): [2], 430, [4] pp.;
Vol. IV (1813): [4], 428, [4] pp.;
Vol. V (1815): [title leaf], 424, [4] pp.
Please see Photos as part of condition report.
References:
HathiTrust Digital Library, Kirby’s Wonderful and Eccentric Museum, bibliographical record
Cambridge University Library, Rare Books Provenance Index: Melville
British Museum, biographical record for R. S. Kirby
Jarndyce, The Museum, catalogue 217, item 157
Author Bio: KIRBY, R. S., identified in contemporary trade records as Ralph Smith Kirby, was a London bookseller, print publisher and editor active during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He worked from addresses in Paternoster Row and London House Yard near St Paul’s, at the centre of the London book trade.
Kirby is best remembered for his Wonderful and Scientific Museum, subsequently titled Kirby’s Wonderful and Eccentric Museum. Issued over a prolonged period, the work combined popular biography, natural history, crime, medicine, folklore and sensational reportage in an accessible illustrated format.
Illustrated By: Various
Illustrator Bio: The engraved plates reproduce portraits, remarkable individuals, natural curiosities, unusual animals, medical phenomena and mechanical or scientific subjects. Many were adapted from rare earlier prints or from original drawings, although individual designers and engravers are not consistently identified.
The illustrations form one of the publication’s principal attractions, creating a visual cabinet of curiosities that complements the often extraordinary biographical and descriptive accounts.
Synopsis: Kirby’s Museum is an extensive anthology of remarkable lives, unusual events and supposed wonders. Rather than presenting a continuous narrative, it assembles hundreds of individual articles drawn from newspapers, historical chronicles, criminal proceedings, scientific reports, folklore and earlier collections of curiosities.
Its subjects include eccentrics, prodigies, hermits, misers, impostors, criminals, inventors and performers, together with accounts of unusual physical conditions and remarkable longevity. Other sections discuss ghosts, witches, apparitions, mermaids, strange animals, unusual plants and vegetables, natural disasters, mechanical devices and unexplained phenomena.
Among the illustrated subjects are Martin Van Butchell, the eccentric dentist and performer; Nathaniel Bentley, remembered as the so-called “Dirty Warehouseman”; Francis Trovillou, described as the “Horned Man”; and numerous figures celebrated or exhibited for their distinctive appearance, behaviour or abilities.
The work offers a vivid insight into Georgian attitudes towards science, entertainment, physical difference, criminality and the marvellous. Some of its language and treatment of individuals reflect the sensational and sometimes dehumanising conventions of its period, but it remains an important source for the history of popular publishing, visual culture, medicine, folklore and public spectacle.
SKU: BTETM0002170
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 45, L: 60, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 4Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request
1805 1st Edition With Provenance
KIRBY’S WONDERFUL AND SCIENTIFIC / ECCENTRIC MUSEUM
VOLUMES I–V OF VI
THE WONDERFUL AND SCIENTIFIC MUSEUM: OR, MAGAZINE OF REMARKABLE CHARACTERS, including all the Curiosities of Nature and Art, from the Remotest Period to the Present Time, Drawn from every Authentic Source
An attractive five-volume run of R. S. Kirby’s celebrated Georgian cabinet of curiosities, comprising the original editions of volumes I–V, published between 1803 and 1815. The series was completed with a sixth volume in 1820, which is not present here.
One of the most engaging illustrated miscellanies of the early nineteenth century, Kirby’s Museum brings together accounts of remarkable people, extraordinary natural phenomena, criminal cases, medical curiosities, ghosts, mermaids, impostors, inventions, performers and other wonders. The volumes are illustrated with numerous engraved portraits and plates, including folding illustrations.
Uniformly bound in early nineteenth-century half calf over marbled boards, with elaborate gilt decoration and contrasting red and black morocco spine labels. Each volume bears the armorial bookplate of the Viscounts Melville, with the motto “Quod Potui Perfeci.”
By R.S. Kirby
Provenance: Each volume bears the armorial bookplate inscribed “Melville,” with the motto “Quod Potui Perfeci”—“I have done what I could.”
Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville, KT, PC, FRS (14 March 1771 – 10 June 1851) was a British statesman, the son of Henry Dundas, the 1st Viscount. Dundas was the Member of Parliament for Hastings in 1794, Rye in 1796 and Midlothian in 1801. He was also Keeper of the Signet for Scotland from 1800. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1807, a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1817, a Knight of the Thistle in 1821, and was Chancellor of the University of St Andrews from 1814. Melville filled various political offices and was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1812 to 1827, and from 1828 to 1830; his eldest son inherited his title.
Format: Hardcover, Octavo (Standard) (8vo 6 × 9 in 152 × 229 mm )
Note: Binding/size selection follows standard bibliographic conventions and is approximate; exact measurements may vary.
Language: English
Published By: R.S.Kirby, London
Condition Report:
Dust Jacket: No Jacket, Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
Good - An attractive and substantially preserved five-volume set, with considerable shelf presence and generally clean, well-impressed contents. The principal faults affect the bindings rather than the printed leaves and illustrations.
Uniform early half-calf bindings with marbled boards, elaborate gilt decoration and contrasting leather labels. Leather rubbed, faded and dry, with scuffing, abrasions and wear to the boards, corners and extremities. Spine ends and headcaps worn, with some lifting and loss of leather, particularly at the head of volume IV.
Joints cracked or split in places. The front joint of volume I is extensively split, although the board remains attached and is presently holding. Other joints show varying degrees of cracking and wear. Gilt decoration remains attractive overall, and the title and volume labels are substantially intact.
Contents generally clean and legible, with light age-toning, occasional spotting, handling marks and minor offsetting. A pale rectangular offset or discolouration is visible on the title page of volume II. Folding plates retain their original folds and show occasional toning or light wear along the creases. Engraved portraits and plates are generally crisp, dark and well defined.
Old numerical inscriptions or shelf marks appear in several volumes. The Melville armorial bookplate is present in each volume.
A handsome working and display set, particularly appealing for its extensive sequence of striking Georgian engravings and its historic Melville-family provenance.
Collation: Vol. I (1803): iv, 476, [4] pp.;
Vol. II (1804): [2], 486, [4] pp.;
Vol. III (1805): [2], 430, [4] pp.;
Vol. IV (1813): [4], 428, [4] pp.;
Vol. V (1815): [title leaf], 424, [4] pp.
Please see Photos as part of condition report.
References:
HathiTrust Digital Library, Kirby’s Wonderful and Eccentric Museum, bibliographical record
Cambridge University Library, Rare Books Provenance Index: Melville
British Museum, biographical record for R. S. Kirby
Jarndyce, The Museum, catalogue 217, item 157
Author Bio: KIRBY, R. S., identified in contemporary trade records as Ralph Smith Kirby, was a London bookseller, print publisher and editor active during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He worked from addresses in Paternoster Row and London House Yard near St Paul’s, at the centre of the London book trade.
Kirby is best remembered for his Wonderful and Scientific Museum, subsequently titled Kirby’s Wonderful and Eccentric Museum. Issued over a prolonged period, the work combined popular biography, natural history, crime, medicine, folklore and sensational reportage in an accessible illustrated format.
Illustrated By: Various
Illustrator Bio: The engraved plates reproduce portraits, remarkable individuals, natural curiosities, unusual animals, medical phenomena and mechanical or scientific subjects. Many were adapted from rare earlier prints or from original drawings, although individual designers and engravers are not consistently identified.
The illustrations form one of the publication’s principal attractions, creating a visual cabinet of curiosities that complements the often extraordinary biographical and descriptive accounts.
Synopsis: Kirby’s Museum is an extensive anthology of remarkable lives, unusual events and supposed wonders. Rather than presenting a continuous narrative, it assembles hundreds of individual articles drawn from newspapers, historical chronicles, criminal proceedings, scientific reports, folklore and earlier collections of curiosities.
Its subjects include eccentrics, prodigies, hermits, misers, impostors, criminals, inventors and performers, together with accounts of unusual physical conditions and remarkable longevity. Other sections discuss ghosts, witches, apparitions, mermaids, strange animals, unusual plants and vegetables, natural disasters, mechanical devices and unexplained phenomena.
Among the illustrated subjects are Martin Van Butchell, the eccentric dentist and performer; Nathaniel Bentley, remembered as the so-called “Dirty Warehouseman”; Francis Trovillou, described as the “Horned Man”; and numerous figures celebrated or exhibited for their distinctive appearance, behaviour or abilities.
The work offers a vivid insight into Georgian attitudes towards science, entertainment, physical difference, criminality and the marvellous. Some of its language and treatment of individuals reflect the sensational and sometimes dehumanising conventions of its period, but it remains an important source for the history of popular publishing, visual culture, medicine, folklore and public spectacle.
SKU: BTETM0002170
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 45, L: 60, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 4Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request
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