This set of books is titled "A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands", printed by J. Hughs for R. and J. Dodsley and published in London by R. Dodsley in 1758. The set is a popular collection of poems edited and published by Robert Dodsley, an English bookseller who was also one of the foremost publishers of his day. The "several hands" included literary figures like Samuel Johnson, Henry Fielding, Thomas Gray, Richard West, and Alexander Pope, among others, and these books aimed to give the public access to the poetry of these English icons. The books have five raised bands, with six gilt-ruled compartments with red and black labels with gilt lettering and gilt decorations on the spine, double gilt-fillet borders on polished calf covers, marbled endpapers, each volume is illustrated with engraved vignettes on the title pages and the first page of the text, and all the edges are marbled. The first three volumes are the fifth edition, Volume IV is a second edition, Volume V has Errata on page 332, which hints at a first edition, and Volume VI has no information about which edition it comes from. Volume I has a two-page Advertisement, 333 pages of text, and a two-page Index at the rear; Volume II has 334 pages of text and a two-page Index at the rear, for a total of 336 pages; Volume III has 347 pages of text, with an engraving of a bust and a lyre on page347; Volume IV has 357 pages of text, an engraving of a funeral procession on A, a three-page Index (358 - 360) and one page of sheet music for the Preceding Ballad composed by Mr. Arne after page 360; Volume V has 332 pages of text, the Errata on page 332 and a three-page Index to the fifth volume at the rear; and Volume VI has 332 pages of text, with an engraving of Angels on page 332, a Postscript by R. Dodsley on page 333, and a three-page Index at the rear (pages 334 to 336). Robert Dodsley (1703 - 1764) was an English bookseller, poet and publisher who was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and with profits and fame from his early literary works, he was able to establish himself as a bookseller at the sign of Tully's Head in Pall Mall, London, in 1735. He also had the help of friends like Alexander Pope, one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century - Pope lent him ?100 - and Dodsley soon became one of the foremost publishers of the day. He published many of Samuel Johnson's works, and he helped to finance Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language. The publication of Paul Whitehead's "Manners" was voted scandalous by the House of Lords and led to Dodsley being imprisoned for a brief period of time, but things turned out okay for him, and in 1751 he published Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."Dodsley is best known, however, as the editor of two collections, one of plays and one of poems. The first was a twelve-volume set of the "Select Collection of Old Plays" in 1744, and his "A Collection of Poems by Several Hands", this set here - it was first published in three volumes in 1748, and with his literary friends, he was able to add a fourth volume by March 1755, and he added volumes five and six in 1758.Dodsley also founded several literary periodicals: The Museum (between 1746 and 1767), The Preceptor, about a general course of education (1748, with an introduction by Dr. Johnson), The World (between 1753 and 1756), and The Annual Register, founded in 1758 along with Edmund Burke as editor, and noted authors like Horace Walpole, Mark Akenside, Lord Lyttelton, Lord Chesterfield and others contributed to these works. He published more successful works towards the end of his life. The Select Fables of Aesop (1761) was in print for many decades, and Dodsley and some of his friends wrote additional fables for this popular title over the years. The books measure 7 x 4 5/8 in. wide, with tight bindings and attractive covers, faded gilt on the spines, light wear or light rubbing on the spines, along the edges, and at the tips, some dark spots and spots on the covers, with browning or foxing throughout, especially towards the endpapers in front and back, and offset from the vignettes. It is also hard to find a complete set offered online: we found only two sets online - one at $315 and the other at $675 - and we are starting the set at a modestly low price for 18th century English poetry compiled by an interesting poet and publisher who rubbed shoulders with some of the great authors of the 1700's. #92 #1625