The Tatler, Volume II (Issues 51 to 114, August to December 1709)

Volume II (of four) only. iv, 582pp, [14]. Bound in full leather with gilt decorations and lettering on spine. Title page vignette. 8vo. Boards are worn, heavily rubbed at edges, cracked on joints and crumbling with some loss on backstrip. Hinges cracked and endpapers a little toned. Ex library copy with discrete stamps on endpapers and titles page, pencil numbers on title page recto. Text block is generally clean and neat and firmly bound. The Tatler was founded in 1709 by Richard Steele using the pen name Issac Bickerstaffe. Published three times a week between 1709 and 1711, it carries news and gossip heard in various London coffeehouses laced with stories invented by Steele, eventually including pieces from Steele's literary friends, Jonathan Swift and Joseph Addison. This volume - a 1789 re-issue - includes issues 51 to 114, along with the original dedication and new title page, with a 14pp index at rear.