Thackeray’s Complete Works – 10 Volume Set

Dark brown hardbound cloth boards with black design on the spine and cover with black text. There is some wear at the top and bottom of the back strip on all volumes although little wear to the boards. Most of all corners are sharp with no wear (see detailed descriptions). All spines are firm, except for the last volume, which is also missing the front free endpaper. Text blocks are also solid. Age tanning throughout. Set includes 325 wood cut illustrations and 50 steel engravings with tissue guards intact. All interior pages are in excellent condition with no creases, tears, or previous owner marks. Each volume dimensions: H – 7-1/2" W – 5-1/4". Additional photos upon request. Heavy set will require additional shipping charges for international shipments. Volumes are not numbered but list below is in the order photographed. Volume I – Roundabout Parties which has been added 5 additional stories, 457. Volume II – The Newcomes – Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, 413 pages. Volume III – The Virginians – A Tale of the Last Century, 401 pages, front top corner has crease, rear top corner has bumping. Volume IV – The History of Pendennis, 391 pages, 1-1/2" stain on front board. Volume V – The Christmas Stories of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh (9 stories), 430 pages. Volume VI – Burlesques (10 stories) 418 pages. Volume VII – The Adventures of Philip (A Shabby Genteel Story), Catherine: A Story, 414 pages. Volume VIII – The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M.A. Titmarsh, Eastern Sketches, A journey from Cornhill to Cairo, The Irish Sketch Book, and Character Sketches, 361 pages. Volume VIIII – The History of Henry Esmond, Esq, Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq., and Denis Duval, 409 pages, frontispiece and title page have slight page damage. Volume IX – Vanity Fair – A Novel Without a Hero and Lovel the Widower, 402 pages, missing front free endpaper. William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 – 1863) was born in Calcutta, India but was sent back to England as a young man where he went on to be a novelist, author, lecturer, and illustrator. He is known for his satire and parody, writing works with a "sneaking fondness for roguish upstarts." Thackeray supported his family with writing for numerous periodicals but achieved fame with his books, especially "Vanity Fair". His health declined in the 1850's due to excessive eating, drinking, and lack of exercise (though he enjoyed riding and kept a horse) and he died from a stroke at the age of fifty-two. His death shocked family, friends, and the reading public with an estimated 7,000 people attending his funeral.