Miscellanies, 12 vols. 1745-1749; Sir Walter Scott’s copy
London: Charles Bathurst, C. Davis, C. Hitch, R. Dodsley, 1745, 1747, 1748, 1749. Hardcover. 12 volumes, a mix of fourth and fifth editions, and perhaps some first printings. Includes “A Tale of the Tub.” Small 8vo, warm light brown calf with red spine labels, good set, some rubbing and wear, six of the outer joints show neat strengthening, contents all very good and clean. A Tale of the Tub (1747) is an Eleventh Edition. With full bookplate of the Scott family featuring crescent moon and stars and with the Scott family motto, "Reparabit Cornua Phoebe" (the moon's horns will be full again) and each title page with the signature W. Scott. This was the motto of Sir Walter Scott's family and the bookplate has the chief elements of their crest, especially the crescent moon, stars, with Phoebe atop the shield, plus motto. The signature looks to us very much like examples online, but buyers are urged to do research on the bookplate and the signature to feel confident in this attribution. The moon and stars image is apparently a nod to Scottish Borderers who were inclined to harass their neighbors by moonlight. Definitely from the Scott family branch that included Sir Walter Scott, but the question is whether this was really Sir Walter Scott's set of Swift. Scott published a life of Swift in 1829 and also edited editions of Swift's works, so, even if this was owned by Scott, they were almost certainly not his primary reference copies. It has been noted elsewhere that Scott had a bookplate with the message, “Please return this book; I find that though many of my friends are poor mathematicians, they are nearly all good bookkeepers.” We do not know if he had more than one sort of bookplate. This edition of Swift does not appear in the catalogue of the library at Abbotsford, but Scott had other residences and not everything in his collection made it into that catalogue. For comparison, we've also included some verified images of his signature as "W. Scott" — which he often signed as, at times crossing the t's with a flourish and sometimes not crossing them at all. In sum, this is certainly a copy from the line of the Scott family that included Sir Walter, and there is a modest likelihood that this is one of his own sets. Very Good. Item #H21872
Price: $2,400.00