[Presentation Copy] The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman

The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman. (Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray). London: David Bogue; Constantinople: Mustapha Syried,1851 . Riviere Presentation copy. Signed and inscribed by illustrator George Cruikshank at half-title. Finely bound in full red morocco by Riviere (imprint at recto front free endpaper). Original cloth front cover bound in as front endpaper. Rear endpapers marbled. Gilt ruled boards with gilt cornerpieces at boards and doublures. All edges gilt. 16mo, 40 pp. Small spot of discoloration lower right front board. Minimal offsetting. Fine.

Presented and inscribed by Cruikshank to Eleanor Locker, daughter of Frederick Locker, with the ex libris bookplate of Frederick Locker, “This Evening, July 13, 1868, I sang LORD BATEMAN to my dear little friend Eleanor Locker. George Cruikshank.” Frederick Locker-Lampson (May 29, 1821 – May 30, 1895) was an English man of letters, bibliophile, and poet. He is best remembered for the impressive and remarkable collection of books he accumulated, a hobby which developed into one of the most famous and respected private libraries in England. He was a proponent of cabinet collecting, gathering the best and most choice of specimens. This marvelous copy is specifically mentioned in Blanchard Jerrold’s 1882 book “The Life of George Cruikshank”. In a letter to Jerrold, dated February 18, 1878, “’One day,’ says Mr. Frederick Locker, ‘he asked us to tea, and to hear him sing ‘Lord Bateman’ in character, which he did to our infinite delight. He posed in the costume of that, deeply interesting but somewhat mysterious nobleman. I am often reminded of the circumstance; for I have a copy of ‘Lord Bateman’ (1851), and on the false title is written, ‘This Evening, July 13, 1868, I sang LORD BATEMAN to my dear little friend Eleanor Locker. George Cruikshank.’” Provenance: Martin Nason (March 5, 1945 – June 23, 2024) private collection, prominent Dickensiana collector and bibliophile with a particular interest in Victorian literature.