Sharpe's London Magazine, Volumes 1-9 (1845-1849), 1st Edition Book Reviews with The Tenant of Wildfell hall by Anne Bronte, Dombey and Son & The Haunted Man by Charles Dickens, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, Mardi by Herman Melville

This is a collection of the first nine volumes of the publication "SHARPE'S LONDON MAGAZINE - A Journal of Entertainment and Instruction for General Reading." The volumes range in date from 1845 to 1849. Included are numerous contemporaneous 1st edition reviews of notable literary works (see below). Published by T.B. Sharpe in London. Most volumes are nicely illustrated with numerous wood engravings. The volumes are bound in three-quarter leather with seven raised bands and gilt lettering on the spines. The highlight of this collection is the notorious, scathing review of the 1st edition publication of "THE TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL" by Anne Bronte (as Acton Bell) - curiously, the reviewer believed that Bronte was a male.

Sharpe's London Magazine was a monthly publication - here are the issues contained within each volume:
Volume 1: November 1845 to April 1846
Volume 2: May 1846 to October 1846
Volume 3: November 1846 to April 1847
Volume 4: May 1847 to October 1847
Volume 5: November 1847 to February 1848
Volume 6: March 1848 to June 1848
Volume 7: July 1848 to October 1848
Volume 8: November 1848 to February 1849
Volume 9: March 1849 to June 1849

Here are reviews of notable literary works within the volumes:

* Volume 7 contains the notorious four page, scathing review of the 1st edition of "THE TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL" by Anne Bronte (as Acton Bell). From the review: "Several novels have lately appeared before the public, purporting to be written by three brothers, Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Of these works, Jane Eyre, by Currer Bell, is the best known, and deservedly the most popular. We say deservedly, for though it has great faults, it has still greater merits. Such is by no means the case with the work now before us; indeed, so revolting are many of the scenes, so coarse and disgusting the language put into the mouths of some of the characters, that the reviewer to whom we entrusted it returned it to us, saying it was unfit to be noticed in the pages of Sharpe; and we are so far of the same opinion, that our object in the present paper is to warn our readers, and more especially our lady-readers, against being indulged to peruse it, either by the powerful interest of the story, or the talent with which it is written. Did we think less highly of it in these particulars, we should have left the book to its fate, and allowed it quietly to sink into the insignificance to which the good taste of the reading public speedily condemns works disfigured by the class of faults we have alluded to; but, like the fatal melody of the Syren's song, its very perfections render it more dangerous, and therefore more carefully to be avoided."

* Also in Volume 7 is a five page review of the 1st edition of "VANITY FAIR" by William Makepeace Thackeray.

* Volume 6 contains a four page review of the 1st edition of "DOMBEY AND SON" by Charles Dickens. From the review: "We have before us a new work from the pen of Mr. Charles Dickens; and the promise which former excellence gave has been ably fulfilled. Scarcely any writer of the present day has so much power in his hands for good or evil as this gentleman."

* Volume 8 contains a four page review of the 1st edition of "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain" by Charles Dickens. "THE HAUNTED MAN" is the fifth and last of Dickens's Christmas novellas (which also included "A Christmas Carol"). From the review: "'The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain' (about as awkward a name, by the way, as ever was hit upon) is appropriately termed 'a fancy for Christmas,' for such and such alone it is; but a more poetic and beautiful conception we have seldom, if ever, met with."

* Volume 9 contains a one paragraph review of the 1st edition of "MARDI AND THE VOYAGE THITHER" by Herman Melville. From the review: "'Mardi' is a difficult book to describe, because it aims at many things and achieves none satisfactorily; - but its main intention is to be a mild satire on the whole world and its ways, and a preaching of certain transcendental nonsense which is meant for bona fide transcendental philosophy."

Other interesting contents include: Dr. Benjamin Franklin before the Privy Council; Halloween Observances; Gipsies; Nature's Witchcraft; "The Village Blacksmith" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (early printing); America and Her Slave States; Ancient Punishments; Babbage's Calculating Machine; Adventures among the Alps; The Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci; The United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842); Fables from the German; Indian Traditions; The Lunatic Asylum; Manners of Our Ancestors; The Mermaid; Oriental Tales; American Revolt; Account of Robin Hood; Table Etiquette of the 17th Century; The Little Owl of America; Dangers of the Polar Seas; Astrology and Astronomy; The Fairies; The History of Gardening; Remarkable Volcanic Phenomena; A True Ghost Story; The Temperature of the Bee-Hive in Winter; Buckingham Palace; "Burial of an Indian Chief" (Longfellow poem); Old Christmas / Christmas Eve / Christmas Day; Cunning of the Fox; Ancient Customs of England; Description of a Siberian Shaman; The Eccentric Naturalist; The Black Forest; The Haunted Moor; The Streets of London; Sir Walter Scott's Tombstone; Annual Eclipse; Dangers of the Arctic Seas; A Journey to Damascus; Discovery of the Steam Engine; The Fascinating Power of Serpents; The House Where Shakespeare was Born; The Effects of Gambling; Rise and Decline of Chivalry in England; Sailors' Pranks; Tiger Shooting; The Childhood and Youth of Hans Christian Andersen; Dante Alighieri; Curiosities of Science; Diaries of an Oxford Man; The First Settlers; The People's Recollections of Napoleon; Two Hours in a Prison; Lives of the Queens of England; The Princess (Tennyson); A Visit to the Camp of Chippewa Indians; Origin of the Diamond; Nature and Uses of Fire; Astronomical Observations; Shakespeare's Fools Jesters or Clowns; Youth of Goethe; Popular Superstitions in the West of England; Forty Days in the Desert; Origin of Photography; Discovery of the Mississippi; Expedition to Discover the Sources of the White Nile; Four Months among the Gold Finders...and much more.

Condition:
Overall the collection is in Fair condition - the volumes are highly readable, though they do have various condition issues. Sporadic foxing to the pages throughout the volumes. A few of the end papers have math equations in old handwriting. Some fading/rubbing to the marbled paper over the boards. Occasional staining and smudging to the pages. Cover corner wear. Shelf wear along the edges of the boards. The issues within volumes 5-9 lack their title pages, and either all or some of their illustrations. Vol 2 - crack at the hinge between pages 32 & 33 (though the front cover remains firmly attached). Vol 7 - preface page 1 to page 2 have detached. Vol 8 - pages 37-44 have pulled from the top string. Vol 9 - pages 231-234 have detached; the right half of the rear end paper has been clipped. Please message me for a detailed condition report for any of the volumes.