{"product_id":"hume-smollett-the-history-of-england-16-volumes-1810-12-captain-john-kent-95th-rifles-provenance","title":"Hume \u0026 Smollett – The History of England – 16 Volumes – 1810–12 – Captain John Kent, 95th Rifles Provenance","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHUME, David \u0026amp; SMOLLETT, Tobias\u003c\/strong\u003e. \u003cem\u003eThe History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688; together with The History of England, from the Revolution in 1688 to the Death of George the Second.\u003c\/em\u003e London: stereotyped and printed by and for A. Wilson, 1810–1812. 16 volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA handsome and complete Regency-period set of Hume and Smollett's \u003cem\u003eHistory of England\u003c\/em\u003e, comprising Hume's history in ten volumes and Tobias Smollett's six-volume continuation, uniformly bound in contemporary green straight-grain morocco.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf particular interest for its provenance: inscriptions repeated through the set record that the books were purchased by \u003cstrong\u003eCaptain John Kent (1782–1849) \u003c\/strong\u003eat the sale of the Vicar of Soham's effects, before descending through successive generations of the Kent family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCaptain John Kent was a \u003cstrong\u003ePeninsular War officer\u003c\/strong\u003e who served with the \u003cstrong\u003e50th Regiment of Foot and 95th Rifles\u003c\/strong\u003e. His military service included the campaigns for which he subsequently received the Military General Service Medal with clasps for Roleia, Vimiera, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz and Salamanca.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe stated acquisition history has unusual independent support. Other books surviving from the Kent Family Collection have been catalogued with the same tradition of having been purchased by Captain Kent at the Vicar of Soham's sale, strongly corroborating the provenance preserved in this set.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe later family inscriptions include several Kent names and are dated 22 April 1928, demonstrating that the volumes remained together within the family more than a century after their original acquisition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn attractive combination of an important classic of Enlightenment historiography, an extensive contemporary morocco binding, and well-documented provenance to a veteran of the Peninsular War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHume, David.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eThe History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688.\u003c\/em\u003e Stereotype edition, in ten volumes. London: stereotyped and printed by and for A. Wilson, Duke Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields \/ Camden Town, St Pancras, 1810–1811. 10 volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSmollett, Tobias.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eThe History of England, from the Revolution in 1688 to the Death of George the Second. Designed as a Continuation of Hume.\u003c\/em\u003e Stereotype edition, in six volumes. London: stereotyped and printed by and for A. Wilson, Camden Town, St Pancras, 1811–1812. 6 volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eComplete in 16 volumes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBinding\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUniform contemporary green straight-grain morocco, covers ruled in gilt with double fillet borders; spines richly gilt with horizontal rules, decorative floral and geometric tooling and gilt lettering; decorative gilt turn-ins; marbled endpapers; edges coloured red. The bindings have considerable visual presence and remain an unusually appealing matched 16-volume set.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProvenance\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCaptain John Kent (1782–1849), 95th Rifles\u003c\/strong\u003e, with later family inscriptions. Each volume bears a manuscript note recording substantially that: \u003cem\u003e\"This series was bought by Capt. John Kent (1782–1849) at the Vicar of Soham's sale.\"\u003c\/em\u003e Further Kent-family names appear beneath, together with the date 22 April 1928.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCaptain Kent was born at Soham, Cambridgeshire, and served during the Napoleonic Wars, including service with the 50th Foot and 95th Rifles. He fought in the Peninsular campaign and was subsequently awarded the Military General Service Medal with five clasps.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe account of Kent's acquisition of books at the Vicar of Soham's sale is independently corroborated by other volumes subsequently dispersed from the Kent Family Collection, including a set of Mrs Inchbald's \u003cem\u003eCollection of Farces\u003c\/em\u003e carrying the same ownership history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe precise identity of the Vicar whose library was dispersed has not been conclusively established, and we have therefore deliberately not attributed the sale to a particular clergyman.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eComplete in sixteen volumes. Internally notably clean, bright and fresh for the period, with strong impressions on good-quality paper and only occasional minor spotting or handling marks. Text blocks firm. Marbled endpapers well preserved.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBindings remain sound and attractive overall, but with rubbing, scuffing and surface abrasion to the green morocco, more noticeably to several boards; extremities and corners rubbed, with occasional small losses or wear at spine ends and joints. Gilt remains substantially bright and the spines present particularly well when shelved. Later Kent-family provenance inscriptions to the endpapers of each volume. No attempt has been made to disguise the age-related wear to the bindings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBibliographic Note\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDavid Hume's \u003cem\u003eHistory of England\u003c\/em\u003e was among the most influential historical works of the eighteenth century and remained a standard history of England well into the nineteenth. Tobias Smollett's continuation carries the narrative from the Revolution of 1688 to the death of George II in 1760.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis A. Wilson stereotype edition illustrates the changing economics of book production at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The unusually elaborate contemporary morocco binding of this copy indicates that, despite the edition's comparatively economical method of production, this particular set was commissioned or acquired as a substantial gentleman's library set. Its subsequent association with Captain John Kent gives the volumes a particularly tangible connection with the generation that fought the Napoleonic Wars.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Reservoir Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58140032827774,"sku":null,"price":600.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1018\/4464\/8318\/files\/IMG_1390.jpg?v=1790856046","url":"https:\/\/reservoirbooks.store\/products\/hume-smollett-the-history-of-england-16-volumes-1810-12-captain-john-kent-95th-rifles-provenance","provider":"Reservoir Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}