Lot 3088: PALTOCK, ROBERT. 1697-1767.

The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins. London: J. Robinson, 1751. 2 volumes. [4], xiii, [1], [10], 287, [1] + [4 ad]; xi, [1], 295, + [5 ad] pp. Publisher’s ads present. 6 engraved plates (1 folding). 12mo (165 x 96 mm). Period full calf, red morocco lettering pieces; custom quarter calf box. Spines creased, light chipping to extremities.

First edition. In which Peter Wilkins discovers the Glums and Gawrys, a people living near the South Pole who are able to fly. “Of Peter Wilkins Coleridge is reported to have spoken in terms of enthusiastic admiration ... Southey ... says that Paltock's winged people ‘are the most beautiful creatures of imagination that ever were devised,’ and adds that Sir Walter Scott was a warm admirer of the book” (DNB).
Provenance: Jean Hersholt (modern bookplate).
See illustration.