(J. Harris) publisher. [Lamb, Charles]. The New Year's Feast on His Coming of Age [Marjorie Moon's Personal Copy]. London: J. Harris and Son, 1824. FIRST EDITION.
12mo - 6-15/16" x 4-1/4". 24 pp., plus [6] leaves of wood-engraved plates containing two illustrations per leaf for a total of twelve hand-colored illustrations. Publisher's original plain tan stiff paper wrappers, stabbed and sewn as issued. Retains the original printed publisher's advertisement on the interior lower wrapper. Housed within a protective archival paper chemise and a custom full blue morocco clamshell box.
The physical condition of the volume is VERY GOOD +. The fragile paper wrappers remain entirely intact and structurally secure, exhibiting minor chipping and routine, superficial toning along the spine fold. The contemporary sewing remains tight, holding the text block and plates firm. Internally, the text leaves and wood engravings are remarkably clean, with the hand-coloring remaining bold, accurate, and un-faded. Provenance is established by the illustrative bookplates of preeminent John Harris bibliographer Marjorie Moon and Henry Frederick, 6th Marquess of Bath, affixed to the interior of the custom clamshell box. [Moon 576].
Regency Juvenile Adaptations and Calendar Personification
This work represents a key artifact in early nineteenth-century juvenile literature, adapting Charles Lamb's famous essay Rejoicings on the New Year's Coming of Age, which originally appeared under his pseudonym "Elia" in the January 1823 issue of the London Magazine. The anonymous versification transforms Lamb's whimsical prose into an educational poem designed to introduce young readers to historical holidays and calendar milestones. The narrative details a grand banquet hosted by the personified New Year, attended by various festivals, fasts, and seasonal days from throughout the year.
The technical execution relies on twelve finely detailed wood engravings across six plates, completed in a contemporary hand with vibrant watercolor washes. The explanatory historical notes appended to the text are extracted from John Brady's Clavis Calendaria (1812), providing a scholarly framework for the juvenile market. This specific title reflects the high production standards of John Harris, who revolutionized children’s publishing by replacing rigid, moralizing tracts with visually engaging, imaginative literature.
Association Provenance, Bibliography, and Scarcity
The survival rate of early nineteenth-century children's books in their original, un-backed paper wrappers is exceptionally low. Because these fragile wrappers were intended to be temporary placeholders before bespoke binding, the vast majority were lost or discarded. This specific copy functions as a premier association exemplar of the highest order, having belonged to Marjorie Moon, the definitive bibliographer of the John Harris publishing house, whose landmark work John Harris: A Catalogue of Books for Children and Young People (1976) references this exact title under entry 576. It subsequently resided in the celebrated library of Henry Frederick, 6th Marquess of Bath at Longleat.
A current global sweep of the OCLC/WorldCat database indicates that while the title is represented in major national repositories, examples remaining in their original, structurally unaltered publisher's wrappers are uncommonly preserved in the trade.
A PREEMINENT, BIBLIOGRAPHICALLY COMPLETE EXEMPLAR OF THE 19TH-CENTURY REGENCY PRESS, RETAINING THE ORIGINAL PLAIN WRAPPERS IN A REMARKABLE STATE OF PRESERVATION AND FEATURING EXTENSIVE PROVENANCE LINKING IT TO THE DEFINITIVE BIBLIOGRAPHER OF THE IMPRINT, CONSTITUTING A PRIZED REQUISITION FOR DISCRIMINATING COLLECTORS AND INSTITUTIONAL CABINETS DEVOTED TO THE NARRATIVE HISTORY OF BRITISH JUVENILIA.
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