John Gay. FABLES BY JOHN GAY, WITH A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR AND EMBELLISHED WITH SEVENTY PLATES. 2 vols. (complete). London: Printed for John Stockdale, Piccadilly, 1793. Gilt-tooled morocco boards with ornaments and French fillet border, with raised bands on spine, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers; signed on turn-in, "Bayntun. Binder. Bath. Eng." and "Charles. E. Lauriat of Boston." Tall 8vo; [2], xi, [1], 225, [1]pp; vii, [3], 187, [1]pp. With (12) plates by William Blake and list of subscribers at the end of vol. II. ESTC N9619.

10 1/4 x 6 7/8 in.

Private Collection, Greensboro, North Carolina

George Bayntun founded his bookbinding firm in Bath, England in 1894 which quickly became known for its finely crafted leather bindings. Bayntun merged with the Rivière bindery in 1939.

Nearly pristine boards with a couple of minor marks and one tiny dent, joints very lightly rubbed; pages with occasional toning, minor grime or small stain/mark, foxing, and mild offsetting; faint writing on title page of first volume, several leaves with minor fraying or tiny edge/corner chip, several small repairs in both volumes, one plate with faint damp staining and one with tiny hole; overall pages extremely clean and crisp; a very good or better set.