Sexagenarian

William Beloe. Sexagenarian. Or, The Recollections of a Literary Life. London: F. C. and J. Rivington, 1817. First edition, issue lacking the postscript. Two volumes. Octavo (8.5 x 5 inches; 215 x 130 mm.). viii, 436; [2, title-leaf (verso blank)], 380 pages. Contemporary polished calf; boards double-ruled in gilt, spine in six compartments with five raised bands, two gilt-lettered labels, other compartments stamped in gilt, board edges tooled in gilt; all edges of the text block sprinkled brown; plain endpapers, flyleaves. Covers lightly scuffed with some trivial soiling; board edges and joints worn, joints just starting at the edges; corners bumped. Page edges with a touch of wear; front free endpaper of the first volume nearly detached; endpapers lightly foxed; front endpapers with bookseller tickets, a previous ownership signature in ink and several pencil notations; some light marginal foxing throughout and intermittent tanning in the text but generally quite bright. Very good. Armorial bookplate of John Bolton in the first volume; occasional brief manuscript notes throughout and a contemporary manuscript key laid into the front of each volume. From the library of William B. Todd with his bibliographical notes laid in. Lowndes Volume I, p. 152 ("These volumes for presumption, misstatement, and malignity, have rarely been exceeded, or even equalled"); NCBEL Volume III, p. 1637. (#10317).