GAY (John): - Fables. By the late Mr. Gay. The Seventh [Fifth]Edition.

London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson and J. Watts. 1753. 2 volumes. 8vo, 200 x 117 mms., pp. [xiv], 194; [iv], 155 [156 blank], volume 2 a fifth edition, with the binder having bound leaves signed (a) - [(a2)], between the last two leaves (M1.2, pp. 154 - 155), engraved vignette on title-page of and engraved head-pieces for each of the fifty fables in volume 1 (mostly by Van Der Gucht after Kent), engraved frontispiece and 16 full-page engraved plates, one for each fable in volume 2, mostly by G. Scotin after H. Gravelot and many plates with a date of 1738, contemporary calf, gilt spines, red leathr labels; bindings a bit scratched, front hinge volume 1 cracked and cover holding on for dear life, but a good set with four bookplates: Earl of Munster, The Honourable G. FitzClarence (1841), Lt. Col. Fitz Clarence, and, and A M Broadley (1902). George Augustus Frederick FitzCalrence, First earl of Munster (1794–1842) was the eldest son of the actress Dorothy Jordan (1761 - 1816) and the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV (1765 - 1837); and the two other FitzClarence bookplates are those of his children. A. M. Broadly is the author and book collector Alexander Meyrick Broadley (1847 - 1916), known for "grangerizing" some of his books with additional illustrations. Since this edition of Gay's Fables, first published in 1727, was well-illustrated, it presumably escaped his attentions on that score. Fable 50 in the first volume is a representation of Gay as a female rabbit being pursued by hounds. The second volume of fables was first published in 1738, after Gay's death in 1732, with Alexander Pope overseeing the publication. -