8vo. xvi, 344pp. With an initial leaf of publisher's advertisements, colour engraved frontispiece, and 11 further plates. Original publisher's blind-stamped dark green calf, lettered in gilt to spine, A.E.G. Rubbed and marked, with wear to extremities. Hinges exposed; spotting and browning throughout.

The sole edition of the 1832 issue of the Literary Souvenir (1824-1838), one of nineteenth century London's most successful literary annuals, published and edited by poet and journalist Alaric Alexander Watts (1797-1864). Both Watts and his wife, Priscilla 'Zillah' Maden, contributed several pieces to the anthology; in the preface, the editor defends the critical value of his ventures, arguing that 'Annual publications are, I suspect, pretty much in the situation of literary ladies, who are often denounced by critics of the ruder sex for the monotony of their materials, and the feebleness of their style; yet the moment they venture upon higher ground, are still more harshly repulsed, for selecting subjects inconsistent with the feminine character'.