The Melange of Humour;

London: Finch-Lane, Cornhill: Printed by W. Lewis. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Very Good. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. ALKEN Henry Thomas. EGERTON Daniel Thomas. etc. First collected edition of this acclaimed series of humorous situations with Fifty Hand Coloured Plates Caricaturing the English Lifestyle of the 1820s. c1835, Folio, letterpress title and fifty hand coloured plates (including frontispiece). Most plates with tissue guards, plates watermarked 1835, 1824, and 1822. In contemporary half black roan, ruled in gilt, over brown pebble grain cloth boards. Spine decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt, with three wide raised bands, all edges gilt, front cover expertly and almost invisibly repaired, corners and board edges slightly rubbed, occasional light soiling and browning to margins, a few plates with tiny marginal tears, tissue guard to title worn & tipped to title. The collection comprises: Six hand-coloured plates after Henry Alken (London: Published by Thos. McLean, Repository of Wit & Humour, 1823): Learning to drive Tandem; Learning to drive A Dennett; A Horse! A Horse! my Kingdom for a Horse!; Give me another Horse-bind up my wounds-The lights burn blue-; The Prospect of Hunting....all Right; and The Reality of Hunting......all Wrong. Six hand-coloured aquatint plates [A Day's Journal of a Sponge] (London: Published by W. Egerton, 1824) captioned: Was 'stirring with the lark,' bent on fixing myself for a month's sponge on a friend.; Feeling one of those pangs 'which flesh is heir to'.; Having returned, & hired a chaise, the only method of conveyance.; Former fears confirmed, by being driven, on my return, without orders into the Stable Yard.; Sauntering down Bond Street, in the evening, to 'Lose & neglect the creeping hours of time'.; and Being recovered from the effects of the last catastrophe, resolved on making one more effort, to gain a supper. Hand-coloured engraved title and twelve hand-coloured aquatint plates (the first six plates are numbered) Design'd & Etch'd by D.T. Egerton: Fashionable Bores or Coolers in High Life by Peter Quiz (London: Published by Thos. McLean, 1824); The Silent Rebuke; The Leech; The Tables Turn'd; The Unfortunate Discovery; The Insolence of Office; and The Trial of Nerves; Vis a Vis; The Unpleasant Rencontre; The Unwelcome Visit; The Disappointment; The Pressing Invitation; and The Finishing Bore. Abbey, Life, 287 and Colas 937 (with imprint of W. Sams). Twelve numbered hand-coloured aquatint plates by Daniel Thomas Egerton originally published as The Necessary Qualifications of a Man of Fashion (London: Published by Thomas M'Lean, Repository of Wit & Humour, 1823). The plates are captioned: Negligence, Assurance, Confidence, Impudence, Intemperance, Indifference, Unfeelingness, Forgetfulness, Selfishness, Intrigue, Eccentricity, and Inconsistency. Six plates by H. Alken (London: Published.by Thomas McLean, 1821): Perfectly Satisfied, Dissatisfied, Delighted, Surpris'd, Displeas'd, and Terrified. Seven hand-coloured lithographed plates by Pigal and L. Boilly captioned: Phoo! Anglais Pah! Pish! (Pigal); The Scratch; Nasty Old Fellow you shan't (Pigal); Le petite famille (L. Boilly); Uncaptioned (L. Boilly); as it used to be (Pigal); and This is mine Heir (Pigal). In addition, this copy contains, pasted to the rear free endpaper, an uncoloured plate numbered 25 and captioned: The Farmers Visit To his married Daughter in Town (London: Publish'd by.G. Thompson, 1796