The History And Antiquities of the City and Suburbs of Worcester 1796. This two-volume set of books is titled “The History And Antiquities Of The City And Suburbs Of Worcester”, written by Valentine Green, printed by W. Bulmer and sold in London by G. Nicol, Bookseller To His Majesty, Edwards, White, Cadell, Payne, Robson, Stockdale, Leigh, And Sotheby, Egerton, Hookham And Carpenter, Shepperson And Reynolds; and in Worcester, by Smart, Tymbs, Holl., Andrews and Gamidge, Booksellers, in MMDCCXCVI [1796]., and the two volumes are first editions, according to WorldCat. Worcester is a city in Worcestershire, England, to the northwest of London, it is the home of Royal Worcester porcelain, Lea & Perrins (makers of traditional Worcestershire sauce), the Battle of Worcester in 1651 was the final battle of theEnglish Civil War, duting which Oliver Cromwell’s army defeated King Charles II’s Royalists, and the city is noted for its cathedrals, as evidenced by the engravings in this book. (There are over 270 churches in the city, including Worcester Cathedral.) Both books have marbled leather boards, horizontal gilt bands and decorative gilt devices on the spines, and blank endpapers with armorial bookplates of the Duke of Beaufort and Hoar. Volume I has an illustrated frontis of Valentine Green, a vignette title page, a two-page note from the author to the King [George III], a four-page List of Subscribers, one page of Contents, an Errata page for both volumes, a ten-page Preface (b - xviii), a double-page West View of the City of Worcester, 300 pages of text, a four-page index at the rear, and 13 plates, plus the frontispiece, the vignette title page, and the double-page view of Worcester. Volume II has the vignette title page, three pages of Contents, a large black-and-white fold-out of the Plan of the City of Worcester, a double-page chart of Anglo Saxon and English coins, 114 pages of text, a 155 page Appendix (B - clv), a three-page Index to the second volume, a two-page Index to the Appendix at the rear, and 8 plates, plus the vignette title page, the fold-out of the plan of the city, and the chart of Anglo Saxon and English coins. Valentine Green (1739 - 1813) was appointed mezzotint engraver to the King in 1773 and the following year became an associate engraver with the Royal Academy; the two volumes are illustrated throughout with Greene's detailed engravings of the buildings and landscapes of Worcester, including an extra plate of an internal view of Worcester Cathedral. The books are 4to. and measure 11 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. wide, with tight bindings and pretty clean pages and text, with brown spots in some of the margins and on the front and backsides of the plates, and offset from the engravings. There’s rubbing and wear at the heels and crowns, along the edges of the spine, wear at the tips and the tips are slightly turned in, the gilt is faded, one plate is loose in the second volume, and a rare first edition set of books about the history of Worcester and its churches and cathedrals. We found only three sets offered online at the rare book web site we use and four others were bound as two books in one, which were probably later editions. #188 #1646