Edward Wedlake Brayley (1773-1854) English, Londiniana 4 Volume 1829 First Edition. 

Size: (each) 7 X 4 1/2 X 1 in. 

This four-volume set of books by Edward Wedlake Brayley is titled Londiniana; Or Reminiscences Of The Bright Metropolis: Including Characteristic Sketches, Antiquarian, Topographical, Descriptive, and Literary, published in London by Hurst Chance and Co. in 1829, it is a first edition set, according to WorldCat. and it is a compendium about the history and sights of London from Roman times in Britain to London in the 18th century, essentially a travel guide to London, complete with illustrations and maps, making it a visual and informative guide to the old and new of the city - new for the 1800’s. Edward Wedlake Brayley (1773 - 1854) was an English historian and topographer who collaborated with his life-long friend, John Britton, on the first six volumes of The Beauties of England and Wales. He was elected to the Society of Antiquarians and appointed Librarian and Secretary of the Russell Institution, which was designed to preserve literary and scientific knowledge. The four volumes have brown boards with hand-marked paper labels on the spines, blank endpapers with purple hand-stamps on the front paste-downs of three of the volumes and the owner’s name, J. R. Schuster, inscribed in front of the first volume, there are fold-out frontispieces before the title page of each volume, a long “Analytical Table of Contents” in  each volume, followed by a two-page List of Plates, then the text, and all the plates and fold-out engravings are present. There are 99 plates altogether in the four books, and 103 counting the fold-out frontispieces. Some pages are mis-paginated in Volumes I and II, but all plates and fold-outs are present, and the mis-paginations actually confirm this is a first edition set. (You don’t have mis-paginating after the first editions have been corrected.) The first volume has a three-page Preface after the title page, the Analytical Table of Contents runs from ix - xxii, there are 24 plates and the frontis fold-out inside, as well as 304 pages of text, and the mis-paginations occur after pages 80 and 240. The second volume has a pencilled note in German on the title page, the Table of Contents runs from v - xix, there are 29 plates plus the fold-out frontis, and 312 pages of text. The third volume’s Table of Contents runs from v - xviii, there are 22 plates plus the fold-out frontispiece, and there are 344 pages of text. The last volume has a Table of Contents that runs from iv - xviii, 24 plates and the fold-out frontis, 320 pages of text, an Index that runs from 321 to 354, and and two pages of ads at the rear for books published by Hurst, Chance, and Company. The books measure 7 x 4 1/2 inches wide and are in pretty good condition on the inside. The books probably need to be repaired or rebound on the spines, and there is light browning  along the edges of the pages, occasional offset from the engravings, a fold-out on page 50 in the second volume has a tear and the fold-out on page 246 of the third volume has two panels that are split, otherwise the plates are intact. First editions of this set go anywhere from $$350 to $3000 on the rare book website we use, and it is hard to find a complete set like this with all the plates and fold-outs present.