REAL LIFE IN LONDON; Or, the Rambles and Adventures of Bob Tallyho, Esqu. and His Cousin, The Hon. Tom. Dashall, Through the Metropolis; Exhibiting a Living Picture of Fashionable Characters, Manners and Amusements in High and Low Life. By an Amateur.

[Egan Pierce]

Edité par London Printed for Jones & Co. 1823

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2 volumes. First Edition, 1823 issue. Embellished and Illustrated with a Series of Hand-Coloured Aquatint Plates, Designed and Engraved by Messrs. Heath, Alken, Dighton, Rowlandson, &c. With all the plates called for in the Contents and an additional plate not called for. 8vo, very handsomely bound in full period polished calf, the covers with double gilt fillet rules at the borders, surrounding two inner roll tooled border decorations, one fully gilt, the other in blind, the spines with raised bands separating the compartments, two compartments with green morocco lettering labels gilt, the other compartments with central gilt ornamental tooling, the raised bands elaborately gilt tooled and gilt ruled, all edges marbled, marbled endleaves. x, 656; ix,[1], 668 pp A very handsome copy, beautifully preserved, in excellent condition in rare contemporary bindings, gilt extra. A superior set. A SUPERIOR SET OF THIS HANDSOMELY ILLUSTRATED WORK. Pierce Egan (1772 1849) was a British journalist and writer on culture. This extraordinarily popular book, Life in London, published in 1821, was adapted into the stage play Tom and Jerry, or Life in London later that year, which became the first play to have a continuous run of 100 performances in London while at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End. Coining the term "the Sweet Science" as an epithet for prizefighting which he dubbed "the Sweet Science of Bruising" as a description of England s bare-knuckle fight scene, the first volume of his prizefighting articles, Boxiana; or Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism, was published in 1813. In 1821, Egan announced the publication of a regular journal: Life in London, appearing monthly at a shilling a time. It was to be illustrated by George Cruikshank (1792 1878), and was dedicated to the king, George IV, who at one time had received Egan at court. The first edition of Life in London or, the Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, esq., and his elegant friend, Corinthian Tom, accompanied by Bob Logic, the Oxonian, in their rambles and sprees through the Metropolis appeared on 15 July 1821. Egan's creation was an instant success, and was an early favourite of Thackeray's. Pirate versions appeared, featuring such figures as "Bob Tallyho", "Dick Wildfire" and the like. Print-makers speedily knocked off cuts featuring the various "stars" and the real-life public flocked to the "sporting" addresses that Egan had his heroes frequent. There was a translation into French. At least six plays were based on Egan's characters, contributing to yet more sales. One of these was exported to America, launching the Tom and Jerry craze there. The version created by William Thomas Moncrieff was praised as The Beggar's Opera of its day. Moncrieff's production of Tom and Jerry, or Life in London ran continuously at the Adelphi Theatre for two seasons and it was the dramatist's work as much as the author's that did so much to popularise the book's trademark use of fashionable slang. Life in London appeared until 1828, when Egan closed it down.

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: REAL LIFE IN LONDON; Or, the Rambles and Adventures of Bob Tallyho, Esqu. and His Cousin, The Hon. Tom. Dashall, Through the Metropolis; Exhibiting a Living Picture of Fashionable Characters, Manners and Amusements in High and Low Life. By an Amateur.
• Éditeur: London Printed for Jones & Co. 1823
• Reliure: Couverture souple
• Édition: Edition originale