Two volumes EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED to four volumes. Profusely illustrated with 125 engraved plates, 21 of which are hand-coloured. 8vo., bound in near-contemporary apple green straight-grained morocco (somewhat worn) with gilt in rule to boards, spine comprised of six decorative gilt compartments Lettered in the second and fourth compartments, marbled endpapers, inner gilt dentelles, all edges gilt. FIRST EDITION - an EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED copy containing numerous plates from the eighteenth and nineteenth century illustrating the world of the English theater at that time. "There was but one Charles Mathews in the world -- there never can be such another! Mimics, buffoons, jesters, wags, and even admirable comedians we shall never want, but what are the best of them compared to him?" (Horace Smith). Ordinary copies contain only 17 plates. "Without rising into the highest rank as an actor, Mathews was, in his way, inimitable. He had genuine power as a comedian, and as a mimic, he had no equal. He would take upon himself characters such as Coleridge or Curran and wear for an hour not only the manner but the intellectual gift of the man, and this with no apparent opportunity of preparation. To this gift, Lord Byron bears testimony... A nervous, irritable man, he shrank honestly from observation and was silent in the presence of those he did not esteem. Affectionate and loyal in disposition, fond of home and yet not averse from congenial company, expensive in tastes, improvident, generous, and easily beguiled, he was a type of the actor of popular acceptation". Coloured plates in order: Volume 1. 1. Frontispiece. Mr. Mathews. 2. Residence of Charles Macklin, Tavistock Row, Covent Garden. 3. Mr. Mathews as Lenitive in the Prize. Swansea 1795. 4. Salon del Teatro de Covent Garden. 5. Mr. Quick as Toby Allspice. 6. Liston as Grojan. Volume 2. 7. Frontispiece. John Milton. 8. Mrs. Powell. 9. George Prince of Wales. Regent of Great Britain. 10. Bristol, from the Bath Road. 11. Mr. Kean as Hamlet. 12. The Right Hon Charles Lennox. Duke of Richmond. Volume 3. 13. Frontispiece. Charles James Fox. 14. Carleton House. 15. Count Joseph Boruwlaski, The celebrated Polish Dwarf. 16. Countess Cowper. 17. Newgate. 18. The Right Hon Richard Brinsley Sheridan. 19. [not captioned] Volume 4. 20. The New London Bridge, as it appeared on Monday, August 1st, 1831, at the Ceremony of opening by their Majesties. 21. High Street - Southampton, taken from Bar Gate.