The "Bab" Ballads (in 2 vols.)
- London: John Camden Hotten [and] George Routledge and Sons, 1872
London: John Camden Hotten [and] George Routledge and Sons, 1872. First editions. Two octavo volumes (7 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches; 184 x 133 mm. [&] 7 x 5 3/8 inches; 179 x 137 mm.). ix, [2], 14-222, [4, adv.]; viii, [1], 14-224, [4. adv.] pp. Black and white frontispieces with original tissue guards, black and white text illustrations throughout. Bound c. 1920 by Rivière & Son for the Gardenside Bookshop, Boston in full emerald crushed levant morocco with a gilt decorated broad inlaid border of maroon morocco, enclosing an elaborate gilt frame surrounding a maroon morocco border and decorated sunken central panel within which are figures from the text pictorially depicted with multi-colored, padded morocco onlays. The Bab Ballads with the onlaid figures of Babette and Jacot (page 67) and More Bab Ballads with the onlaid figures of Sir Berkely and William Lee (page 122). Lower boards with gilt ruled maroon morocco border, surrounding an elaborate gilt border with decorative gilt corner pieces. Spines with five raised bands, decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments, gilt ruled board edges, elaborate gilt turn-ins, cream watered silk liners and end-leaves, all edges gilt. Original gilt decorated green cloth covers bound in at end of each volume. Outer front joint of volume 2 with subtle repairs. Housed together in the original felt-lined, green cloth slipcase. A fine set.
This publication evidences how a writer’s work is never done. First published as a humorous column in Fun magazine, in 1876, Gilbert collected fifty of his favorite poems for the book Fifty “Bab” Ballads:Much Sound and Little Sense, it contained one poem collected for the first time (titled "Etiquette") and excluded 25 previously published poems. As Gilbert explained: “The period during which they were written extended over some three or four years; many, however, were composed hastily, and under the discomforting necessity of having to turn out a quantity of lively verse by a certain day in every week. As it seemed to me (and to others) that the volumes were disfigured by the presence of these hastily written impostors, I thought it better to withdraw from both volumes such Ballads as seemed to show evidence of carelessness or undue haste, and to publish the remainder in the compact form under which they are now presented to the reader” (Gilbert). However, “Gilbert's readers were not happy with the loss, and in 1882 Gilbert published all of the poems that had appeared in either The “Bab” Ballads or More “Bab” Ballads, once again excluding "Etiquette." Some twentieth-century editions of More “Bab” Ballads include "Etiquette"” (Ellis). The poems range from satire to absurdist texts and will surely entertain all who read them.
“The Riviere Bindery was one of the most notable and prolific shops in London's West End from about 1840 through 1939” (Princeton). Bath-based Bayntun Bindery acquired the firm in 1939, transforming into the “Bayntun-Riviere bindery,” which is still in existence and family owned.
This publication evidences how a writer’s work is never done. First published as a humorous column in Fun magazine, in 1876, Gilbert collected fifty of his favorite poems for the book Fifty “Bab” Ballads:Much Sound and Little Sense, it contained one poem collected for the first time (titled "Etiquette") and excluded 25 previously published poems. As Gilbert explained: “The period during which they were written extended over some three or four years; many, however, were composed hastily, and under the discomforting necessity of having to turn out a quantity of lively verse by a certain day in every week. As it seemed to me (and to others) that the volumes were disfigured by the presence of these hastily written impostors, I thought it better to withdraw from both volumes such Ballads as seemed to show evidence of carelessness or undue haste, and to publish the remainder in the compact form under which they are now presented to the reader” (Gilbert). However, “Gilbert's readers were not happy with the loss, and in 1882 Gilbert published all of the poems that had appeared in either The “Bab” Ballads or More “Bab” Ballads, once again excluding "Etiquette." Some twentieth-century editions of More “Bab” Ballads include "Etiquette"” (Ellis). The poems range from satire to absurdist texts and will surely entertain all who read them.
“The Riviere Bindery was one of the most notable and prolific shops in London's West End from about 1840 through 1939” (Princeton). Bath-based Bayntun Bindery acquired the firm in 1939, transforming into the “Bayntun-Riviere bindery,” which is still in existence and family owned.