Addison / Steele - The Spectator - 1718-1724

Early edition of one of the most influential periodicals of the English Enlightenment and moralism. “The Spectator” originally appeared in 1711–1712 (with later additions) as a daily collection of essays and subsequently shaped bourgeois culture, moral concepts, and the literary style of the 18th century.
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Publisher: London, printed for J. Tonson in the Strand, 1718-24, mixed edition, 14 (of 16) volumes, without vols. 3 and 5, leather bindings of the period, 17 x 10 cm
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The work comprises the episodes of the famous “Spectator” essays: reflections on morality, religion, society, fashion, literature, theater, education, courtly and bourgeois behavior, and questions of taste and public opinion. Addison and Steele combine journalistic topicality with philosophical reflection and satirical observation of everyday life in London during the early Enlightenment. Recurring figures (e.g., “Mr. Spectator,” Sir Roger de Coverley) structure the texts and lend them a narrative character.

The influence of the essays on the development of English prose style, the culture of periodicals, and the bourgeois public is scarcely overstated; the work is regarded as a key text of the European Enlightenment and a precursor of modern feuilleton and essay literature.
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Binding slightly rubbed, front hinge of vol. 1 repaired, occasionally lightly browned, but overall an attractive, collectible copy of an early, complete edition
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Collation: Vol. 1 – VI + 312 pp. + VI; Vol. 2 – 289 pp. + V; Vol. 4 – 313 pp. + IV; Vol. 6 – 292 pp. + IV; Vol. 7 – 305 pp. + III; Vol. 8 – 304 pp. + IV; Vol. 9 – 303 pp. + IV; Vol. 10 – 313 pp. + V; Vol. 11 – 296 pp. + VIII; Vol. 12 – 302 pp. + V; Vol. 13 – 290 pp. + V; Vol. 14 – 293 pp. + III; Vol. 15 – 278 pp. + V; Vol. 16 – 289 pp. + IV.