MANTELL (GIDEON)


A Narrative of the Visit of Their Most Gracious Majesties William IV. and Queen Adelaide, to the Ancient Borough of Lewes, on the 22d. of October 1830, FIRST EDITION, LARGE PAPER COPY, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed "To His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, with the profound respect of His Royal Highness' most dutiful and most obedient servant the Author. Castle Place, Lewes, May 1831" on the front free endpaper, 2 engraved portraits, off-setting, some spotting, contemporary full calf gilt, covers with wide roll-tool borders, upper cover with title in central panel, rebacked, some scuffmarks, 4to, Lupton Relfe, 1831
|AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY TO THE DUKE OF SUSSEX, of the scarce large paper edition of Gideon Mantell's account of the celebrated visit of William IV and Adelaide to Lewes undertaken in 1830. Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex was from 1830 to 1839 president of the Royal Society, a noted bibliophile and younger brother of King William IV, who in 1832 made it known to Mantell that he desired that his soon to be published The Geology of the South-East of England be dedicated to himself (see Dennis R. Dean, Gideon Mantell and the Discovery of Dinosaurs, 1999). The occasion of the royal visit was recorded in a large painting by Archibald Archer, which was in 1937 gifted to Lewes Borough Council, and now hangs in the town hall.Provenance: Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773-1843), presentation inscription from the author; Institutional library labels (with "Withdrawn" stamp) inside upper cover.