£350
FIRST EDITION, 2 vols., 8vo, pp. xxiv, 310; viii, 341, [3] + engraved title-page to each volume, 32 aquatint plates and 1 folding map hand-coloured in outline. Original blue boards. Some offsetting from plates. Rebacked in cream paper, paper labels, boards somewhat soiled, boards of vol. 1 with areas of loss from blue paper covering, untrimmed page edges a little creased and dusted.
An early production of John Stoddart (1773-1856), later editor of The Times, illustrated with attractive aquatints by James Merigot. 'In the autumn of 1800, on his return from Scotland, he stayed in the Lake District with Coleridge and Wordsworth, who drew upon passages from Stoddart's book in The Prelude' (ODNB); the reciprocal influence on Stoddart from his poet friends can be seen most clearly in the concluding chapter of this book, an essay on General Principles of Taste.
