When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
John Wilson (“Christopher North”)With Memoirs and Notes by R. Shelton MackenziePRebound in Dark Green ClothCondition: Very Good (Ex-Library)
New York: W. J. Widdleton, 1863Revised Edition, only 100 sets printed
Five-volume complete set of John Wilson’s celebrated Noctes Ambrosianæ, edited with memoirs and extensive notes by R. Shelton Mackenzie. This set comes from a theological seminary library and appears to have seen very little use. Each volume has been professionally rebound in dark green library cloth, presenting clean, sturdy boards with bright gilt spine titles. Solid, tight hinges throughout. Text blocks show deckled side and bottom edges, and many pages remain uncut, indicating the books were scarcely read. Typical minimal library marks, but interiors are clean, unmarked, and remarkably fresh for their age.
A very well-preserved, handsome working or reading set of this classic of Scottish literature and wit.
John Wilson (1785–1854), known by his pen-name “Christopher North,” was one of the central figures of Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine and a major voice in the Scottish literary renaissance of the early 19th century. Noctes Ambrosianæ—a sprawling series of conversational essays, imagined dialogues, satire, criticism, and philosophical reflections—captured the brilliance, humor, and cultural life of the period. Wilson’s combination of poetic insight, social commentary, and convivial storytelling made the Noctes one of the magazine’s most enduring and influential contributions. This Mackenzie edition remains a key reference for Wilson’s life, circle, and literary legacy.
