MOORE, Edward, editor] — Adam FITZ-ADAM (pseudonym)

​The World. By Adam Fitz-Adam. A New Edition.

London: Printed for J. Dodsley, in Pall-mall, 1782 [M.DCC.LXXXII].

​Complete in 4 volumes. Small octavo / 12mo.

​

​A handsome 1782 four-volume collected edition of The World, the celebrated 18th-century satirical weekly periodical originally published between 1753 and 1756.

​Conceived and edited by playwright Edward Moore under the persona of "Adam Fitz-Adam," The World was created as a stylish, witty chronicler of high society, fashion, taste, and contemporary social follies, patterned directly after the format of The Spectator and The Rambler. Moore assembled an exceptional cadre of aristocratic and literary contributors, most notably Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (whose famous essays in this paper heralded Samuel Johnson's Dictionary), Horace Walpole, Richard Owen Cambridge, Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, and Soame Jenyns.

​Engraved allegorical vignette by Charles Grignion after Francis Hayman/Samuel Wale to the title pages.

​Binding: Contemporary full polished tree calf. Spines divided into five compartments by raised bands decorated with gilt roll-tooling; second compartments retain original red morocco lettering labels titled in gilt (WORLD), with volume numbers directly stamped in gilt into the third compartments.

Smooth covers featuring vivid, tree-like marbling. Light rubbing to board edges and spine ends; minor superficial surface scuffing and gentle craquelure to leather, but boards remain supple with an attractive warm patina.

​Text Block: Solid, tightly bound, and squared. Clean with mild natural toning. Clean and crisp overall. Light, scattered foxing primarily confined to endpapers and preliminary leaves; pages bright and free of major markings or annotations.

​A very well-preserved, decorative late-18th-century set in original leather bindings.