London: Printed for Bernard Lintot, 1721. First Urry edition. Folio. (li), 626, 81, (1, errata) pp. Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece portrait of Urry by N. Pigne, engraved vignette of Chaucer's tomb on title-page, engraved portrait of Chaucer by George Vertue, 27 engraved head-pieces in "The Canterbury Tales" representing each of the story's pilgrims, and numerous woodcut initials and head- and tail-pieces throughout. Full contemporary brown calf, decorated in blind and in gilt, red morocco spine label, rebacked, wear to boards and spine, corners worn, head of spine chipped; red speckled edges; endpapers renewed; loss in bottom edge l2, affecting text; small open tear in fore-edge Ll2, not affecting text; scattered light soiling and foxing to text. Hammond, pp. 128-130

A handsome copy of John Urry's first edition of Chaucer's collected works, one of the principal editions of Chaucer, as well as the first to be printed in roman, rather than gothic, type. Urry's work "was the first edition of Chaucer for nearly a hundred and fifty years to consult any manuscripts and is the first since that of William Thynne in 1534 to seek systematically to assemble a substantial number of manuscripts to establish his text. It is also the first edition to offer descriptions of the manuscripts of Chaucer's works, and the first to print texts of 'Gamelyn' and 'The Tale of Beryn', works ascribed to, but not by, Chaucer" (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). This edition was left incomplete upon Urry's death in 1715, was continued by Thomas Ainsworth until his own death in 1719, and was then finished by Timothy and William Thomas, who compiled the glossary printed in the rear.