The Dance of Life, a Poem; by the author of "Doctor Syntax"
London: R. Ackermann, 1817. Thomas Rowlandson. First Edition. Tall 8vo, 9 1/4 x 5 3/4 in. (235 x 147 mm); vi + 285 pp. + advertisement, with 26 richly colored aquatint plates including the engraved title page by Thomas Rowlandson, plate offsets throughout, otherwise pages clean and bright. Contemporary black calf, respined, with old green marbled boards, patterned endpapers, raised bands, gilt title and decorations, marbled edges, headbands; light rubbing to bottom edges.
Armorial book plate of Graham M. Adee pasted inside front cover.
[Tooley 410; Abbey Life 264; Grolier Rowlandson, 38; Prideaux pp. 306-07 & p. 332; Ray 34, p. 28].
Rowlandson and Combe had begun a successful collaboration in 1810 on the monthly Doctor Synax series for Rudolph Ackermann's Poetical Magazine, with Rowlandson producing the illustrations first and Combe writing the poetry, in iambic tetrameter, second. They continued this collaborative style on further joint works, including The English Dance of Death (our inventory no. 773) and The Dance of Life. First published in eight monthly parts, this works is one of Rowlandson finest works. Sarah Prideaux, in her work on Aquatint Engravings states that "The Combe-Rowlandson alliance also produced other fruits, the Dance of Death and Dance of Life, being notably above the ordinary level of Combe's verse. These works show the better side of Rowlandson genius." (pp. 306-7)
The frontispiece (representing an aged Father Time pointing at various scenes on a gonfalon) and the title-page are dated Dec. 1, 1817. The remaining twenty-four plates are dated irregularly but all are 1817.
Graham M. Adee, whose bookplate appears in this volume, was a Captain of the U.S. Navy and then U.S. Senator from Rhode Island. His stunning library of color-plate and sporting books was sold at Parke-Bernet in 1953.
Condition: Near Fine.
Item number: 867
Price: $1,000.00
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