Prince Hoare. Memoirs of Granville Sharp... London: Henry Colburn and Co., 1820. First edition....

Description

Prince Hoare. Memoirs of Granville Sharp, Esq. Composed from his own Manuscripts, and other Authentic Documents in the Possession of his Family and of the African Institution. . With Observations on Mr. Sharp's Biblical Criticisms, by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of St. David's. London: Printed for Henry Colburn and Co., 1820. First edition. Quarto (10.25 x 8.25 inches; 260 x 210 mm). xxxii, 524, xxiii, [1, blank] pages. Complete with engraved frontispiece and extra-illustrated with more than 95 portraits. Full dark brown calf, spine lettered in gilt in compartments, four raised bands. Prospectus bound-in before half-title. Contemporary gift inscription from the author to James Northgate on half-title. Light toning throughout, a few instances of minor offsetting and occasional light foxing, else a very good copy.

A beautiful copy of one of the earliest biographies of the renowned British abolitionist, the most striking aspect of this unique copy -- a gift from the author to James Northgate -- is the addition of nearly 100 contemporary and near-contemporary illustrations from other works. Comprising woodcuts, intaglio engravings, lithographs, and mezzotints, most of the extra illustrations are portraits of philosophers, monarchs, and politicians that have been mounted on leaves, but a few have been pasted on blank versos and spaces between the text. Sabin 32288.