[MANGIN, Edward, 1772-1852]

[Hand-Colored] Utopia Found: being An Apology for Irish Absentees. Addressed to a Friend in Connaught By an absentee, residing in Bath [Association Copy]

Bath: Printed by Gye and Son, Market-Place, 1813. Paper-Covered Boards. First (and only) Edition of this satirical account, signed on title page by the author's second wife, Mary. Crown 8vo (189 x 104 mm): [2],125,[1]pp, with hand-colored folding frontispiece, one further folding plate (of bourgeois British couple), and woodcut of the dance of death. Recent period-style drab paper-covered boards, contrasting cream-colored spine with paper title label printed in black, all edges gilt, title page in red and black. A superb example, with brilliant association, tightly bound and clean throughout (virtually pristine), with gorgeous hand-coloring. Rare, with COPAC noting only three copies: BL, Cambridge, and Trinity College (Dublin). Scarce in commerce as well, with ABPC listing only one copy (1987), and RBH one other (1992) since 1950. Bibliotheca Somersetensis, p. 334. NSTC M979. Fine. Item #BB2374

Mangin's Huguenot ancestors settled in Dublin during the second half of the eighteenth century. Edward, the eldest son, graduated from Balliol College, in 1793, and was ordained in the Irish church, but for nearly the whole of his working life lived in Bath, at 10 Johnstone Street, where Utopia Found was published. Mangin’s second wife, Mary, was the daughter, according to the ODNB, of Lieutenant-Colonel Nangreave of the East Indian army. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

Price: $1,999.00