8vo. In three volumes. [2], viii, 319pp, [1]; [6], 321pp, [1]; [6], 326pp, [4]. With half-title and engraved colour frontispiece to each volume, 12 further colour engraved plates, and a terminal leaf of publisher's advertisements to Vol. III. Original publisher's red roan-backed buff paper boards, ruled and lettered in gilt to spine. Rubbed and marked, slight surface loss to boards. Very slight spotting to endpapers, otherwise internally clean and crisp.

A new edition, featuring a biographical sketch of the author, of Irish author and journalist Charles Johnstone's (c. 1719-c. 1800) early 'it-narrative', an excoriating satire set during the period of the Seven Years' War (1757-63). Following the journey of a guinea through the hands and purses of each echelon of society, the work claimed to reveal political secrets and corruption amongst England's high society. Johnstone's later efforts were not received with the same popular acclaim; indeed, none of his subsequent works would find a wide audience, resulting in him facing a dotage of penury (in part due to being a victim of an unscrupulous publisher).