1817, Lake Allen, History Of Portsmouth, 1st Edition, Recased, Very Rare

  

The History of Portsmouth containing a full and enlarged account of its ancient and present state; with a particular description of the dock-yard, gun-wharf, Haslar Hospital, the towns of Portsea and Gosport, Porchester Castle the Isle of Wight and the most remarkable places in the vicinity. Published by: HATFIELD AND CO FOR S MILLS, HIGH-STREET, PORTSMOUTH. Etc, 1817, London, Portsmouth, VERY GOOD.

This is a scarce book in first edition. This copy has a recent binding with marbled paper boards, cloth spine and a new label, a little rubbed to extremities. The title page is a very well done facsimile of a title page with a contemporary signature across it. The interior is very good, and it has one or two pasted in newspaper extracts and personal notes to the endpapers giving further details about the history of the book and its author, Lake Allen.

Cut off by her father, Lake Taswell, who believed she had married beneath the family's dignity, Mary named her newborn boy after him. When Lake Taswell saw the child was sickly, his heart softened and he adopted the boy, giving him a first class education. The precocious boy founded a Literary and Philosophical Society in Portsmouth with his firm friend Frederick Madden, who went on to become the curator of manuscripts at the British Museum.

Intrigued by Portsmouth's history, Lake Allen wrote this book while he was 16. It was his only book. His sickliness caught up with him, and he died in 1824 at the age of 25. The book is an extremely interesting account of Portsmouth's history, drawn from extensive research and full of vibrant descriptions of life in the town, especially in the footnotes. It is a genuinely scarce book, hard to find in decent condition.

This item is in the category "Books, Comics & Magazines\Antiquarian & Collectable". The seller is "tobo_books" and is located in this country: GB. This item can be shipped to North, South, or Latin America, all countries in Europe, all countries in continental Asia, Australia.

1. Binding: Fine Binding
2. Non-Fiction Subject: History & Military
3. Language: English
4. Special Attributes: 1st Edition
5. Author: Allen, Lake
6. Publisher: Hatfeild and co
7. Original/Facsimile: Original