AUBREY’S BRIEF LIVES (Limited Deluxe Edition, Copy No. 1, Signed by Editor)

London: Theodore Brun, 1949

8vo, cxiv + 408pp. Full-leather hardcover binding, gilt lettering to spine, gilt inlay to front board, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. With frontispiece and 28 plates, collated and complete.

Limited deluxe edition of 75 copies, of which this is no. 1. Signed by editor.

Brief Lives is a collection of short biographies written by John Aubrey (1626–1697) in the last decades of the 17th century. Aubrey initially began collecting biographical material to assist the Oxford scholar Anthony Wood, who was working on his own collection of biographies. With time, Aubrey's biographical researches went beyond mere assistance to Wood and became a project in its own right.

Aubrey was careful, wherever possible, to seek out and talk with those who had been acquainted with his subjects. His sociable nature and his wide circle of friends helped him in this pursuit. At his death, Aubrey left his biographical writings in a state of chaos. It has been the task of later editors to organise the manuscripts (held at the Bodleian Library) into readable form. (wikipedia.com)

Condition: Good. Slight rubbing and scuff marks to boards and spine. One minor chip to top of spine. Splitting to gutters between half title page and frontispiece, and between rear endpaper and last page. Text and plates are clean. Well bound.

Reserve: $50

Estimate: $55-60