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Humanities and Social Sciences Library > Collections & Reading Rooms > George Arents Collection A Brief SurveyTwo very rare sporting novels are in the Arents collection. These are: Fair Diana, 1884, and A Loose Rein, 1887, each in 11 parts, in colored illustrated wrappers. These are said on the title-pages to be by "Wanderer" who has been identified as Elim H. D'Avigdor. His name does not appear in the Dictionary of National Biography nor are these books listed in bibliographies of fiction, such as the Sadleir collection. One of the two is not found in the great Schwerdt sporting collection, where two of his works are listed under "Wanderer." 20 The most important work in the category of architecture, art, and landscape in the Arents collection is The History of the Royal Residences, by William Henry Pyne, in twenty-five parts, London, 1817-1819, with 100 beautiful colored plates showing Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, and other royal palaces; these show both exterior and interior views. This seems to be the only copy so far recorded in intact original condition, with wrappers. Most sets of this sumptuous work are bound in morocco, which was regarded as fitting by contemporary owners; the book is rare in any state. Another similar work, though not on so luxurious a scale (the plates are uncolored), is The Baronial Halls, Picturesque Edifices, and Ancient Churches of England, by S. C. Hall, with 96 illustrations, in 24 parts, 1843-1847; each part was sold for five shillings in contrast to Pyne's work, where the charge was £1 1s. Another great rarity in this field is The Microcosm of London, in
26 parts, 1808-1810, with many colored plates in which the figures are by
Thomas Rowlandson and the architectural parts by Charles Augustus Pugin.
The text is by W. H. Pyne and William Combe. This is perhaps the most elaborate
and esteemed work issued by Rudolph Ackermann, a publisher who is known for
his fine publications. Any choice from the numerous works on travel and landscape
in the Arents collection must be of necessity arbitrary; all are rare and
interesting. Views in the South of France Chiefly on the Rhone, six
parts, 1822-1825, with colored engravings after designs by P. Dewint; Sketches
of Character and Costume in Constantinople, the Ionian Islands &c., by
Captain Forbes MacBean, in five parts, with 25 large colored lithographic
plates after designs by the author; and The Rhine, Italy & Greece Illustrated, by
Leitsch, Bartlett et al., in 18 parts, 1841, with 72 colored engravings,
are among the most decorative examples. The next group of books, "penny dreadfuls," is
quite different from the beautiful and literary classes of works appearing
in parts. This type of publication may be said to belong to the underworld
of literature. But these 20 A Loose Rein is listed in Victorian Fiction, p. 34, from a private collection. The copies of these novels in the British Museum are in volume-form. |