Debrett’s Peerage in 2 volumes 1820 Vol. I: England - Vol. II: Scotland & Ireland

Debrett’s CORRECT PEERAGE of England Scotland & Ireland with the Exrtinct & Forfeited Peerages of The Three Kingdoms. A List of their Family Names, Second Titles etc And a translation of their Mottos. THE PEERAGE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND IN TWO VOLUMES

1820 (1st: 1802)[Entered at Stationers’ Hall]; The thirteenth edition, considerably improved.(The last edition before his death.)

LONDON: Printed by G. Woodfall, Angel Court, Skinner Street For F. C. and J. Rivington, St Paul’s Churchyard and Waterloo Place; T. Egerton, Whitehall; J. Cuthell, Middle Row, Holborn; J. and W. T. Clarke, Portugal Street, Lincoln’s Inn; Longman and Co., Paternoster Row; Cadell and Davies, Strand; J. Richardson, Royal Exchange; J. Booth, Duke Street, Portland Chapel; J. Booker, New Bond Street; Black and Co., Leadenhall Street; J. Murray, Albemarle Street; Baldwin and Co. and S. Bagster, Paternoster Row; J. Hatchard and Son, Picadilly; J. Harding, St Jame’s Street; Rodwell and Martin, New Bond Street; Edwards and Knibb, Newgate Street; and B. Lloyd and Son, Harley Street.

18mo., 9.5cm x 16cm 1458 pp [Vol. I: pp 1 – 636; Vol. II: pp 649 – 1458]

Uniformly bound in brown leather; 5 panels to spine with raised bands; gilt titles and decorative motifs; title and volume number in gilt lettering. Marbled endpapers. Black and white engravings throughout.

Vol. I: Abbreviations; Contents of both volumes; General Index; Alphabetical list of the names of those commoners who have married the daughters of Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; Index to the terms of Heraldry; an Explanation of the Heraldic Engraved Terms; the Different degrees of Nobility in England; and other such tables. The volumes include a short history of the family of each titleholder.

John Debrett (1753 – 1822) was the London-born son of Jean Louys de Bret, a French cook of Huguenot extraction. As a boy of thirteen, he was apprenticed to a Piccadilly bookseller and publisher, Robert Davis. He remained there until 1780, when he moved to John Almon, bookseller and stationer. John Almon edited and published his first edition of The New Peerage in 1769, and went on to produce at least three further editions. By 1790 he had passed the editorship on to John Debrett who, in 1802, put his name to the two small volumes that made up The Correct Peerage of England, Scotland and Ireland. Despite twice being declared bankrupt, Debrett continued as a bookseller, and retired in 1814. He was found dead at his lodgings on 15 November 1822, and was buried at St James's, Piccadilly.

Condition: Spines both torn and coming away slightly on Vol. II, entirely to one side on Vol. I. Marbled endpapers rubbed with tears, front and rear. Edges of boards bent and scuffed. Binding tight. Some slight foxing and staining, but otherwise pages very clean. A few page corners slightly bent. Illegible name written in ink on front endpaper of both volumes.

Please note that this lot will be posted from the UK.