London, printed for J. Murray and J. Sibbald, Edinburgh, 1792.
3 volumes 8vo [201 x 120 mm] of : I/ xix pp., 280 pp., 4 coloured plates out of pagination; II/ xi pp., 350 pp., 4 coloured plates out of pagination; III/ (1) l., vii pp., 316 pp., 4 coloured plates out of pagination.
Blond calf, triple gilt fillet around the covers, spines decorated, light brown lettering pieces, inner border, gilt edges (Rivière & Son).
New edition of Fielding’s Tom Jones published by James Sibbald in Edinburgh, “a milestone in the development of the English novel.”
First published in 1749, Tom Jones “is generally regarded as Fielding’s greatest, and as one of the first and most influential of English novels” (Drabble, 988).
“A milestone in the development of the English novel… It would be nearly another 150 years before a major novel could deal as frankly with the sexuality of its central character” (An English Library, 21).
The work is illustrated with a set of 12 beautiful figures out of pagination drawn and engraved by Thomas Rowlandson.
One of the few copies whose plates were entirely hand-coloured at the time.
A very fine copy.
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