Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour

London: Bradbury and Evans, 1853. First edition, with all the original 12 wrappers bound in at end and some ads. 13 hand-colored etched plates, numerous wood-engraved illustrations in the text after John Leech. 1 vols. 8vo. Contemporary half red morocco, with wrappers bound in and original cloth spine and front cover. Minor rubbing. First edition, with all the original 12 wrappers bound in at end and some ads. 13 hand-colored etched plates, numerous wood-engraved illustrations in the text after John Leech. 1 vols. 8vo. Surtees’ classic sendup of the English propertied classes, through the lens of the hunting field. The freeloading Sponge is a hilarious creation and Surtees is as keen an observer of the financial view of world (and marriage) in Victorian Britain as Dickens, and as Jane Austen was of Georgian society. Tooley, pp. 380-381; Biscotti, Six Centuries of Foxhunting, p. 361