Title: WALKS IN LONDON or extracts from the JOURNAL...
Publisher: Religious Tract Society.
Publication Date: 1845
Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Very Good
Edition: 1st Edition
Near miniature. First (and only) edition. Date not stated but [1845]. 144 printed pages, vignette title page. Woodcut headpiece, 12 woodcut text illustrations-including a bear at the zoo and the Tract Society bookshop (some pages very slightly marked with light handling). Flourishing ink inscription on front free endpaper ( "The gift of Mrs. Hawthorn to W.J.Smith"). William John Smith's charming bookplate on front paste-down endpaper ("Read slowly, pause frequently, keep cleanly, return duly, with the corners of the leaves not turned down") and his printed name neatly on the title page (small ink stain on leading foredge, not affecting internal margins). 7 x 11 cm. Contemporary roan covered boards (edges and corners slightly chipped). Sympathetically rebacked in brown calf with gilt fillets and title. Juvenile literature for a juvenile audience, introducing the British Museum, Zoological Gardens, the Monument, crowded streets, pickpockets and chimney-sweeps! Provenance: William John Smith (probably the person who was christened on 5 June 1831 at Saint Mary Magdalene, Woolwich, Kent, England. In 1847 William emigrated from England to New Zealand with his parents and three siblings, travelling on the Ship Ann. He married Bridget Catherine Butler on 11 March 1863 in St Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland. They had 3 children. His wife Bridget passed away in 1885. He married, secondly, Alice Bates in January 1888 in the House of Mary McBrierty, Onehunga, Auckland. He passed away in 1911 at the age of 79). Joseph Wilkins diary was not published, apart from in these extracts, it would appear. WorldCat locates only 4 copies of this book (at the British Library, Cambridge University Library, University of Florida, & Australian National University). A curious oddity for children's book collectors or people seeking rare London related items. Seller Inventory # 5158