Beschreibung:

STERNE, Laurence (1713-1768). The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. [York] and London: [volumes III-IV: R. and J. Dodsley], [volumes V-IX: T. Becket and P.A. Dehondt], 1760-1767. 9 volumes, 8 o (155 x 93 mm). Half-titles in volumes IV-VI and IX. Volume I with black leaf E5, volume III with engraved plate after Hogarth and marbled leaf between L4 and L5, volume VII in first state with errata on title verso, volume IX with variant a of "posteriori" between pages v and vi. Contemporary calf (skilfully rebacked with old gilt spines laid down), each volume in cloth chemise and all housed in one half morocco slipcase. Provenance : E. Hubert Litchfield (bookplate) sold Parke-Bernet, New York, 5 December 1951, lot 873 -- purchased from Ximenes, New York, 8 January 1964. FIRST EDITION, FIRST STATE with Sterne's signature in ink, as usual, inscribed at the head of first chapers in vols. V, VII and IX. Volumes I-II were rejected by Dodsley when Sterne offered him the manuscript for £50 in the autumn of 1759. As an alternative, he had a small edition of probably no more than 300 copies printed by John Hinxman in York, the shame of its provincial origin was concealed from the imprint, and Dodsley agreed to act as London agent "with many misgivings." Publication on 1 January 1760 brought Sterne instant recognition. Although Johnson, Goldsmith, Richardson, Horace Walpole and Richard Farmer were among those who disliked the book, Sterne went to London to be feted by society, invited to court and have his portrait painted by Reynolds. He was less popular among local readers who charged him with vilifying his neighbours, alive and dead, and who easily recognised parson Yorick's large parish as Sterne's own parish of Sutton-in-the-Forest. In the same year, 1760, he was presented with a third Yorkshire living, that of Coxwold, where he settled into "Shandy Hall" and continued with his unashamedly egocentric, sometimes salacious novel. Four more volumes quickly appeared, 1761-1762, and the author's popularity was undiminished, although Dodsley's involvement ceased after volume IV, and it was Garrick's opinion that Sterne had "degenerated in London like an ill-transplanted shrub; the incense of the great spoiled his head as their ragouts had done his stomach" (Horace Walpole Letters , III, 298). In 1762, his deteriorating health necessitated a trip to France with his estranged wife and only daughter. His family were to settle in France permanently, and Sterne returned alone to England to publish volumes VII-VIII in 1765. The final volume appeared in January 1767, just over a year before his death. Rothschild 1970. (9)