1895 Don Quixote, 4/4 Vol 1st Brangwyn Edition

Offered is a beautiful complete four-volume set of The History of the Valorous and Witty Knight-Errant Don Quixote of the Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by Thomas Shelton, published by Gibbings & Co., London, with J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1895.

This is the celebrated Frank Brangwyn illustrated edition, featuring an introduction by Justin Huntly McCarthy and decorative Arts & Crafts bindings. The colophon states:

"Fifteen Hundred Copies printed by Morrison and Gibb Ltd., December 31st, 1895."

A handsome Victorian edition and one of the most attractive illustrated editions of Don Quixote produced during the late nineteenth century.

About the Author

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in world literature and is often called the father of the modern novel.

His life was as remarkable as his fiction. Cervantes served as a soldier in the Spanish navy and fought in the Battle of Lepanto, where he was severely wounded, permanently losing the use of his left hand. On his return to Spain, he was captured by Barbary pirates and spent five years in captivity in Algiers before being ransomed.

Drawing upon a lifetime of hardship, adventure, and keen observation of human nature, Cervantes published Don Quixote in two parts. The novel transformed literature by combining satire, humour, psychological depth, and realism, influencing generations of writers from Henry Fielding and Charles Dickens to Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mark Twain, and James Joyce.

Today, Don Quixote is considered one of the greatest novels ever written and remains one of the most translated and widely read works in history.

Frank Brangwyn:

One of the defining features of this edition is its illustrations by Sir Frank Brangwyn, one of Britain's most celebrated artists and designers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Born in Belgium to British parents, Brangwyn established an international reputation as a painter, printmaker, muralist, architect, and book illustrator. His bold compositions, dramatic use of light, and energetic style earned him commissions throughout Europe and the United States, and his works are now represented in major museums around the world.

About This Edition

• Published in 1895

• Complete in four volumes

• Original publisher's decorated red cloth bindings

• Illustrated throughout by Frank Brangwyn

• Introduction by Justin Huntly McCarthy

• Thomas Shelton's historic English translation

• Printed by Morrison & Gibb Ltd.

• Limited printing of 1,500 copies

• Original tissue guards present

Condition

• Complete four-volume set

• Original publisher's cloth bindings

• Original decorative cover labels intact

• Gilt spine lettering present

• Moderate, even fading to the spines consistent with age

• Minor shelf wear to extremities

• Clean interiors

• Tissue guards remain present

• Light foxing to endpapers

• No library markings or bookplates

• Early ownership inscription dated 1911 on front endpaper

Dimensions (Of all volumes combined):

Weight - 1.25KG

Height - 18cm

Width - 12cm

Thickness - 9.6cm