138. Radcliffe, Ann.
The Mysteries of Udolpho.
First Edition. 4 Volumes [complete set]. London, Printed for G. G. and J.Robinson, 1794. Octavo. Collation complete with all four half-titles: Volume I: 428 pages / Volume II: 478 pages / Volume III: 463 pages / Volume IV: 428 pages. Original, unaltered, 18th-century half leather with gilt lettering on original spinelabels. All four bindings with vintage paper-covered boards and their original, reinforced corners. The set is now housed in a custom-made solander-box / clamshell-box. Excellent, firm condition of all four volumes with minor lesions to hinges and some rubbing to extremeties only and some general, neglectable external wear to corners and upper spines. In Volume I, two sentences partly censored with manuscript editing in ink. Interior very good with the occasional lesion (I, p.109), minor tear (II, p.93), and stains to a page here or there and a faded, very mild dampstain in the background of some pages of Volume IV. Two excellent provenance signs: Bookplate / Exlibris of “William Tennant, Ashton Hall” to the pastedown of each Volume / Previous owner-stamp of “O.W.O’Grady Young – Castlerea”. A fantastic, in this state, unbelievably rare version, of one of the most desirable books in the english language. The seminal gothic novel, a most desirable collectable and the best copy of this first edition we have ever handled.