John Howison (1797-1859) Scottish, European Colonies 2 Volume Set (1834). Likely unique publishing error within. 

Size: (both) 8 11/16 X 5 1/2 X 1 in. 

This two-volume set is titled European Colonies, in Various Parts of the World, Viewed in Their Social, Moral, and Physical Conditions, written by John Howison and published in London by Richard Bentley in 1834, and it is a first edition set, according to WorldCat: there were no printings of this title prior to 1834. See Sabin 33367. The books have leather boards, five raised bands, gilt compartments with red labels, gilt lettering, and gilt decorations on the spines, decorated boards, marbled endpapers with gilt dentelles and a decorated bookplate on the front paste-downs, the title page, two pages addressed to the reader, the title page says Bentley was Publisher in Ordinary to his Majesty, and  we believe there is a duplicating error in the first volume: there are two sections of Contents listed in the first volume, instead of just one - the first section of Contents of the first volume goes from vii - xii and covers West Africa, South Africa, and India, and the second section of Contents in Volume I goes from v to xii and continues with India, covers the Aborigines of India, the Arctic Regions, the West Indies, and British America - and those are the exact same Roman numerals and topics listed in the Contents of the second volume - the Contents in the second volume run from v to xii and continue with India, the Aborigines of India, the Arctic Region, the West Indies, and British America. The words, page numbers, and topics are repeated in both volumes, and we don’t know why - we think there was an organizing error by the publisher and we believe this organizing error would be early in  the print run - and there are 430 pages of text in the first volume and 460 pages of text in Volume II. (Bentley had only been appointed Publisher in Ordinary to his Majesty in 1833, just a year before this set came out, which might account for the publishing error here.) John Howison (1797 - 1859) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and visited  North America between 1818 and 1820, then he wrote Sketches of Upper Canada a year later; it was called one of the best documentary sources of pioneer life in Canada, and European Colonies gave   a broad view of European Colonization and gained him a reputation as one of the best travel writers of the nineteenth century. Howison also worked as an assistant surgeon for the East India Company in Bombay, which was a powerful British company founded in 1600 that focused on the spice trade in the East Indies (present-day Indonesia) and later expanded to India and Asia. It gained control over vast territories, amassed immense wealth, and maintained its own army, eventually becoming a major political and military force in India. The Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty was an historical title in the British monarchy, signifying the publisher had been authorized to publish materials for the King or Queen, the publisher had the backing of the King or Queen, and it was a permanent position, not a temporary one. The first volume is also inscribed on a front flyleaf to Robert Heygate on his leaving Eton in 1847. Eton College was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI to give boys the opportunity to gain knowledge that he had enjoyed, and he made provision for 70 poor boys, known as King’s Scholars, to be housed and educated at Eton free of charge. (Other boys could benefit from the free education, too, but they would have to pay for their accommodations.) To fund this, Henry VI gave a large amount of land, rights and other benefits to the college, including the right to swans on the Thames. The books measure 8 11/16 x 5 1/2 inches wide and are in very good condition, with tight bindings and clean pages and text for the most part. There are faint brown spots on the inscription pages in Volume I and a few brown spots in the margins here and there, and overall a clean set, both volumes are missing a red label on the spine, and there is rubbing on the spines and modest wear at the tips. Prices on the rare book website we use range up to $1700 for a first edition set, and if this set indeed contains a publishing error, that would be rather unique.