These two books were written by Douglas Jerrold, an English writer and dramatist. The first book is titled "The Story Of A Feather", illustrated with a frontispiece by Leech and published at the Punch office in London in 1844 [MDCCCXLIV on the title page]. The book has five raised bands, six gilt-ruled compartments with gilt lettering on black labels, gilt tooling, and "Lond. 1844" at the bottom of the spine, polished calf covers with triple gilt-fillet borders, slate blue endpapers with wide gilt dentelles, "Bound by Riviere & Son" stamped at the bottom of the first blank endpaper, the illustrated frontispiece by Leech and a vignette title page, followed by the regular title page, five pages of Contents, 255 pages of text, the original cover and spine are bound in at the rear, the top edge is gilt, and it's a first edition, according to WorldCat. One of Jerrold's most popular works, this is the story of an ostrich feather as it passes hand to hand through society, drawing attention to the poverty of Patty Butler, a feather dresser. The second book is titled "The Essays of Douglas Jerrold," edited by his grandson, Walter Jerrold, with Illustrations by H. M. Brock and published by E. P. Dutton in New York in 1903. The book is 3/4 bound, with gift lettering and gild devices on the spine, marbled covers and marbled endpapers, tissue guard for title page, marbled covers, marbled endpapers, "Bound by W. Roach Co." stamped at the bottom of the first blank endpaper, the half-title reads " Essays and Sketches by Douglas Jerrold", then the illustrated frontis and a protective tissue guard, the title page, two pages of Contents, a three page List of Illustrations, a seven-page Introduction (xi - xvii), the text is 263 pages long, and the top edge is gilt. Jerrold (1803-1857) was a contemporary of Thackeray and Dickens, and arguably one of the greatest wits of his era. In his writings, he had a cynical side, in his private life he was always open. In politics, he was a Liberal and never tired of speaking against the horrors of war, the luxury of bishops, or the evils of capital punishment, and as a dramatist, he was very popular, though his plays have not kept the stage. He also wrote many articles for Punch Magazine, the office where the "Story of A Feather" was published, and Dickens was a pall bearer at his funeral. The first book measures 6 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. wide, with a tight binding and clean pages, with light brown spots on the blank endpapers at the front and rear and not much more. There's very light rubbing on the spine and light wear at the crown and heel, light wear along the edges of the spine, and just specks of rubbing at the tips, and a very attractive copy overall. The second book measures 7 3/8 x 4 3/4 in. wide, with a tight binding and clean pages, with a trace of rubbing at the heel and crown and at one tip, faint hints of browning in the margins on a couple of pages, the spine and covers are bright, and an attractive book overall too. A nice pair of books by Jerrold, one with a fine binding by Riviere, and the other a newer copy from the early 1900's. #77 #1697