As a kid, I once put together a full set of Topps baseball cards one wax pack at a time, until all 792 cards were mine. So I am not opposed to exercising a little patience in the pursuit of completing a set.
With that in mind, today we added two William Makepeace Thackeray books to our collection, each a single volume of a two-volume work (at least these editions split the works into two volumes). They were both kind of buried on a $3.00 table at Random Row Books, and they are, I have to say, pretty sweet.
They are Thackeray's works The Newcomes and The History of Pendennis, and each is the second volume of the two-volume work. Both books are published by Smith, Elder and Co. of London/J.P. Lippincott and Co. of Philadelphia, and each was published n 1868. They appear to be from a multi-volume set (22-26 books?) of Thackeray's works.
Their covers are a lovely green, with gold lettering and design, and an intertwined WMT on the front cover. Aside from their age, their relatively good condition, and the allure of having to now be on the lookout for their partners, what also made these two easy to purchase were the illustrations throughout, which in the case of Pendennis were done by Thackeray himself, while in The Newcomes they were done "on steel and wool by Richard Doyle." They really do make the books.
Lastly, one thing that I also really found attractive about these two works was that you can literally feel the printed word on the pages. It's a small perk, but I absolutely love it.
Books added: The History of Pendennis and The Newcomes by William Makepeace Thackeray
Publisher: Smith, Elder and Co. of London/J.P. Lippincott and Co. of Philadelphia
Year: 1868
Where obtained: Random Row Books, Charlottesville, VA
Price: $6.00 total
