[?EGAN, Pierce (1772-1849), and others]. Real Life in London, London, 1821-22, 2 vols., 8vo, hand-coloured aquatint frontispieces, titles and 28 plates, FINELY BOUND in 19th-century red morocco. And another related book. Sold not subject to return. (3)

[?EGAN, Pierce (1772-1849), and others].  Real Life in London; or, the Rambles and Adventures of Bib Tallyho, Esq. and his Cousin the Hon. Tom. Dashall, through the Metropolis; Exhibiting a Living Picture of Fashionable Characters, Manners, and Amusements in High and Low Life. By an Amateur. London: Printed for Jones & Co., 1821-22. 2 volumes, 8vo (218 x 130mm). 2 hand-coloured aquatint frontispieces, 2 additional hand-coloured titles, and 28 hand-coloured aquatint plates by Alken, Rowlandson and others, one folding (some light spotting staining). FINELY BOUND in 19th-century scarlet crushed morocco gilt, gilt fleurons in each corner of the covers, the spines gilt in compartments, gilt edges (extremities rubbed). Provenance: Archer Ryland (label on front free endpaper of vol. one); H. W. Ryland (stamp on front free endpaper of vol. II); "This book is a piracy - the genuine book is 'Life in London'. Plates by G. Cruikshank. See finish to 'Life in + Out of London', page 7. J. C. Hotten, 1871 (reprint)" (pencil inscription on front free endpaper of vol. one); old printed bookseller's or auctioneer's description tipped-in at the front of vol. one; Abbey Life 280: "... one of the most complicated and bewildering books ever published, rivaling Pickwick in the tangle of variant states that exist in text and plates ..."; Brunet II, 169; Hardie English Coloured Books p.198-9: "Like Rowlandson's Tours of Dr. Syntax, the Life in London was followed by a host of imitations and pirated copies. Real Life in London, or Rambles of Bob Tallyho, Esq. ... issued in six-penny parts from 1821-22 with thirty-four [sic] aquatint plates, coloured by hand, by Alken, Rowlandson, Heath, Dighton, etc. is perhaps as good as the original"; Tooley 198. The plates in this set conform exactly to the printed lists at the front of each volume, although other copies are recorded as having additional plates. With [William Combe's] The Life of Napoleon. A Hudibrastic Poem in Fifteen Cantos by Doctor Syntax (London, 1817, 8vo, 30 hand-coloured aquatint plates by George Cruikshank including title (lacks all before title, spotted and stained), contemporary half red roan (worn). In light of Abbey's comment regarding the first-named work, and the poor condition of the second, this lot is, regrettably, sold as a collection of plates, not subject to return. (3)