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  • [CAMBRIDGE.]
    A Description of the University, Town, and County of Cambridge: containing an Account of the Colleges, Churches, and Public Buildings, their Founders, Benefactors, Eminent Men, Libraries, Pictures and Curiosities. A List of the Heads of Colleges, Professors, University Officers, Annual Prizes, College Livings, Terms, and other Useful Tables. A Description of the Seats, Rivers &c. in the County, with a list of Members, Militia Officers, and Quarter Sessions. Directons [sic] concerning the Posts, Roads, Stage Coaches, Waggons, &c. to and from Cambridge. Illustrated with Neat Views of the Public Buildings. This Edition contains near one third more than any former one, with a new Plan of the Town. Cambridge, Burges for Deighton, 1796.

    First Edition, Second Issue. 12mo (180 x 115 mm), folding engraved frontispiece city plan of Cambridge and pp. [vi], iv, 167, [1] advertisements, with 10 engraved plates, uncut throughout, gathering I loose and partly detached from text block with broken stitching, marginal paper flaw to E5, small tear to I3 with no loss of text, in the original limp paper boards in pink with cream paper spine, slightly chipped at head and foot, printed paper labels on spine and on front board, covers a little dust-soiled and stained, worn at extremities, but still a good, unsophisticated copy.

    A delightful illustrated guidebook to Cambridge aimed at the new undergraduate and his family, as well as the tourist, with plentiful information on the town… (more)

    A delightful illustrated guidebook to Cambridge aimed at the new undergraduate and his family, as well as the tourist, with plentiful information on the town and its facilities in addition to a description of the university. Benefactors are listed for the main public buildings such as the Senate House, the Public and New Library and the Botanic Garden. Colleges are then described in some detail, with information on their foundation, notable buildings and art works, benefactors and eminent past scholars. The finances and development plans are also included for some colleges, such as for Trinity Hall (’an Hall surpassing All’) which ‘stands out of the town upon the banks of the river... this college is intended to be greatly enlarged by the addition of two wings or buildings, extending from the present college to the river, so as to leave the view open to the country’. It is also noted that this development is to be funded by a benefaction from John Andrews, ‘which being bequeathed in 1747, to come to the college after the death of two sisters, cannot be long before it falls’.
    This is a reissue of the first edition, published in 1796, with the ‘Useful Tables’ on pp. i-iv on cancelled leaves, bearing the date 1797, in place of 1796. These tables contain information on the names of the office holders and professors, term dates and militia officers. The frontispiece is a folding map entitled ‘Plan of Cambridge 1791’ and is signed ‘S.I. Neele scuplt. 352 Strand London’. The ten engraved plates all depict landmarks of the university: the Senate House, two of Clare Hall (College), two of Kings College, Queen’s College, Catherine Hall, two of Trinity College and one of Emanuel [sic] College.

    ESTC t31701, at BL, NLS, Bristol, Emory, McMaster and UC Davis.

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  • ‘the graceful and penetrating works of Edmund Lechmere’ 1
    LECHMERE, Edmund (d. circa 1640).
    A Disputation of the Church, Wherein the old Religion is maintained. V.M.C.F.E. Douai, the widdow of Mark Wyon, 1632.

    Second Edition. 8vo ( pp. [xvi], 335, 338-434, 439-649 (text continuous and complete), [1] ‘the fift conclusion’, [3]’To my opponents’, Errata and notes on heretics, title with woodcut printer’s device, woodcut head- and tail-pieces and decorative initials, small hole in text p. 125 (6 x 9 mm max) with loss of some letters, small burn hole on p. 127 (9 x 2 mm max) also with minimal loss of letters, marginal tear in Rf4 (p. 637) just touching text but with no loss, small tear, probably an original paper flaw, on Ff4 (p. 461), through text with no loss, dampstaining throughout, with dust-soiling and browning, numerous leaves dog-eared, much creasing, loose in contemporary limp vellum with turn-ins, marked, creased and worn, binding only holding at foot of spine: an honest and well-read copy, entirely unrestored.

    A rather tatty copy, unrestored in a contemporary vellum binding, of a learned recusant treatise first published in 1629. Edmund Lechmere was a Worcestershire-born Catholic… (more)

    A rather tatty copy, unrestored in a contemporary vellum binding, of a learned recusant treatise first published in 1629. Edmund Lechmere was a Worcestershire-born Catholic divine who went to study at the English College at Douai, where he was also known under the alias of Stratford. He studied the course of divinity under the famous theologian Dr. Kellison and publicly defended it on 1st August 1617, after which he was appointed professor of philosophy. After spending some time in Paris where he attended the lectures of Dr. Gamache,he was persuaded by Kellison to return to Douai and take up the chair of divinity, which he held for some eight years. He was ordained to the priesthood in Douai in 1622. His works have always been admired for their intellectual clarity and depth of learning and he stands out among his contemporaries for the brilliance of his controversial writings in particular.
    ‘Edmund Lechmere astonished his contemporaries with his natural genius, and outstripped them all in the progress he made in the studies... Towards the close of Panzani’s mission to England, the names of several of the most eminent clergymen suitable for the episcopacy were sent up to Rome, in 1635, and, though the youngest on the list, Dr. Lechmere was most highly recommended for his ability, learning, and piety... ‘The works he left behind him,’ says Dodd, ‘are a lasting monument of his extraordinary qualifications, and have merited a preference to all our controversial writers for acuteness and just reasoning’... From his epistle in this remarkably learned work, it appears that the author had long been engaged in private controversy with his Protestant adversary’ (Gillow, Joseph, A Literary and Biographical History, or Biographical Dictionary of the English Catholics, IV, 174-175).
    This is one of three editions of Lechmere’s treatise, all published in Douai, the first appeared in 1629 printed by Marck Wyon. The present and subsequent edition of 1640 were printed by Mark Wyon’s widow. ESTC lists copies of the 1629 first edition at BL, Cambridge, Downside, Lambeth Palace, NLS, Bodleian, Society of Jesus Library and Trinity College; no copies located outside the UK. This second edition (ESTC s108397) is more common, well held in British libraries and in America at Emory, Folger, Harvard, Huntington, Union Theological Seminary, Illinois and Texas. Rare at auction, with the last copy we can trace being 1969 (bought by Thorp for $100).

    1 ‘Recusant Literature’, New Catholic Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia.com, 28 Feb 2022, .

    STC (2nd edn) 15349; Allison & Rogers, Catholic Books, 443; ESTC s108397.

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  • [BOOK FURNITURE.]
    A False Book in the shape of an Almanac, designed for carrying flasks (not present). French, circa 1760.

    Small ‘16mo’ (105 x 60 x 25 mm), box in the shape of an almanac or small binding, top-opening, revealing two equal compartments with a tiny central compartment, closed but with a small hole at the top, also a slim side-compartment, the exposed part (normally covered by the top part of the ‘book’) externally covered in blue silk, worn along the top and sides, some staining inside the uncovered interior of the compartments, the contents of the box missing, in contemporary red morocco, slightly worn with one corner bumped, front and rear covers elaborately gilt with borders comprising gilt filet, corner sun bursts, floral swags and diamond tooling, with a central filet with tapered corners and a circular indent on each corner, in the centre a black circular label (across the opening) depicting a hunting scene in gilt, with falconry and vegetation, the scene within a decorative scroll, the binding flat, gilt in compartments and with black morocco label lettered in gilt ‘Oeuvre Chretien’, the ‘pages’ edges of the box made of varnished, painted paper with a single gilt scroll across the three sides.

    A delightful box made to look like a pocket book of devotional works but designed as an elegant vanity bag. The internal space of the… (more)

    A delightful box made to look like a pocket book of devotional works but designed as an elegant vanity bag. The internal space of the box suggests that it used to carry two small flasks of perfume or smelling salts. The design also includes a central hole, presumably for a funnel or pipet and a slim side-pocket which probably contained a small mirror. The contents are unfortunately no longer present but this remains a testimony to an elegant female accessory as well as a delightful falconry binding.

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  • BONA, Giovanni (1609-1674).
    L’ESTRANGE, Roger, Sir, (1616-1704), translator.
    A Guide to Eternity: Extracted out of the Writings of the Holy Fathers, and Ancient Philosophers. Written originally in Latine, by John Bona: and now done into English, by Roger L’Estrange Esq; the Second Edition. London, Henry Brome, 1680.

    Second [First] Edition in English. 12mo (133 x 67 mm), pp. [xii], 188, [4], advertisements, preliminary leaves including additional engraved title-page; engraved frontispiece and pp. [xlvi], 108, [2], 126, [4] advertisements, the frontispiece to the second work shaved close to the image (but not touching it) but with loss to some of the caption below the image, in contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt in compartments, red morocco label lettered in gilt, marbled edges, with the Hayhurst bookplate.

    Two scarce English translations of Italian devotional works, bound together in an attractive seventeenth century binding. Giovanni Bona was a Cistercian cardinal from Northern Italy… (more)

    Two scarce English translations of Italian devotional works, bound together in an attractive seventeenth century binding. Giovanni Bona was a Cistercian cardinal from Northern Italy known for his scholarship and simple manner of life. The first work in this volume is his Manuductio ad coelum, first published in 1658 and first translated into English in 1672. It has often been compared to Thomas a Kempis’ Imitation of Christ, on account of the simplicity of the style in which the doctrine is explained. It was a hugely popular work, seeing a dozen editions by the end of the century and being translated into Italian, French, German, Armenian and Spanish as well as English. The second work in the volume is a translation of Bona’s Principia et documenta vitae Christianae, a comparable work which focuses on the principles of Christian conduct. The translation is usually ascribed to Luke Beaulieu.
    The first work has an additional title-page, engraved, ‘Manuductio ad coelum, or a guide to eternity’, by Frederick Hendrick van Hove (1629?-1698). The second work has an engraved frontispiece depicting Christ during his passion, also by F. H. van Hove.

    Guide to Eternity: Wing B3545; ESTC r23243, at BL, CUL, Bodleian, King’s Lynn; Harvard, Huntington, Union Theological, Illinois and Yale.
    Precepts: Wing B3553; ESTC r17339, at BL, CUL, Downside, Bodliean and Sion College; Columbia, Folger, Huntington, Union Theological, Clark, Illinois and Yale.

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  • A Journey through the Crimea to Constantinople. by CRAVEN, Elizabeth, Lady, later Margravine of Anspach (1750-1828).
    CRAVEN, Elizabeth, Lady, later Margravine of Anspach (1750-1828).
    A Journey through the Crimea to Constantinople. In a Series of Letters from the Right Honourable Elizabeth Lady Craven, to his Serene Highness the Margrave of Brandebourg, Anspach, and Bareith. Written in the Year MDCCLXXXVI. London, G.G.J. and J. Robinson, 1789.

    First Edition. 4to (270 x 200 mm), pp. [viii], 327, [1], with the half-title, large folding engraved map as frontispiece and six further engraved plates, title-page and dedication leaf fairly heavily browned, text otherwise clean and plates fresh, in contemporary calf-backed marbled boards, front board detached, a little worn and dusty, spine worn with head and tail-cap chipped, red morocco label lettered in gilt, with a contemporary heraldic bookplate.

    One of the great female travelogues of the eighteenth century, by the feisty Lady Craven, dramatist, writer, traveller and socialite, said to have been the… (more)

    One of the great female travelogues of the eighteenth century, by the feisty Lady Craven, dramatist, writer, traveller and socialite, said to have been the first woman ever to have descended into the Grotto of Antiparos which is strikingly illustrated on one of the engraved plates. This vivid account of her travels through France, Austria, Poland, Russia, Turkey and Greece are presented in a series of letters to her future husband, the Margrave of Anspach. While in Constantinople, she stayed with the author and collector Choiseul-Gouffier and recounts details of her stay there: ‘the Comte de Choiseul’s collection is, perhaps, the only thing in the world of the kind, and he means, when he returns to Paris, to have all the ruins and temples executed in plaster of Paris, or some materials which will copy the marble, in small models; to be place in galleries upon tables’ (Letter XLVI). Her account is also particularly interesting for her commentary as to the behaviour and dress of the women in the different places she visits.

    With a large folding map and six delightful plates depicting the source of the River Kaarasou in the Crimea, a Turkish boat, a Turkish burial ground, the Grotto of the Antiparos, Siphanto and the Convent of Panacrado from the Bay of Gabrio. Please note, this copy has a detached front cover.

    ESTC t134670; Cox I pp. 197-198; see Wayward Women, pp. 87-88.

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  • [PROVINCIAL TRADE.]
    A Letter from a Gentleman in the West of England to his Friend in London. London? 1753.

    Folio broadside, pp. 2, printed on both sides, with central fold partly cut through, dated in manuscript on the verso ‘March ye 13th 1753’.

    A scarce broadside written in response to ‘An act for the encouraging industry in the kingdom, by removing certain disabilities and restraints contained in several… (more)

    A scarce broadside written in response to ‘An act for the encouraging industry in the kingdom, by removing certain disabilities and restraints contained in several former Acts’. The author laments the decline of trade in his West Country town, which he blames on the restrictive practices of the corporation and the apprenticeship rules of the various trades. He argues strongly for the abolition of privileges of corporations, companies, apprenticeships whose restrictions do such harm to local communities.
    ‘The Effect of the Statute of Queen Elizabeth, which forbids all Persons to employ themselves in various Trades, who have not been Apprentices to them, is plainly this; that none learn any of those Trades, but Boys; and that none exercise them during their Lives, but such as chanced to begin with them. Now... particular Trades usually depend on such a variety of Circumstances, both in our own and foreign Nations, that it is scarce possible for them to continue many Years without Increase or Decrease. And whenever there is either a larger or less Demand, than has been usual, for any kind of Manufacture; that Manufacture must, under this Regulation, either want Hands, or be over-burdened with them. But it is equally detrimental to the Nation, that there should be Work without Workmen, or Workmen without Work’.

    ESTC n54414, listing Birmingham, BL, Exeter, Columbia, Harvard and Huntington.

    Kress 5369; Higgs 713.

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  • provincial poverty in England
    [PROVINCIAL TRADE.]
    A Letter from a Gentleman in the West of England to his Friend in London. London, 1753.

    Folio broadside, (370 x 245 mm), pp. 2, printed on both sides, with central fold largely cut through but holding at the edges, dated in manuscript on the verso ‘March ye 13th 1753’.

    A lament for the decline in wealth of south west England, striking a strong chord with post-Covid concerns about provincial poverty in England and addressing… (more)

    A lament for the decline in wealth of south west England, striking a strong chord with post-Covid concerns about provincial poverty in England and addressing still current issues about apprenticeship and the problems associated with the seasonal nature of farming. The author argues that not only is reform to employment laws necessary, but also that trade is threatened by suffering ‘under a Load of Taxes, laid on Industry instead of Luxury’.
    This scarce broadside is written in response to ‘An act for the encouraging industry in the kingdom, by removing certain disabilities and restraints contained in several former Acts’. The author laments the decline of trade in his West Country town, which he blames on the restrictive practices of the corporation and the apprenticeship rules of the various trades. He argues strongly for the abolition of privileges of corporations, companies, apprenticeships whose restrictions do such harm to local communities.
    ‘The Effect of the Statute of Queen Elizabeth, which forbids all Persons to employ themselves in various Trades, who have not been Apprentices to them, is plainly this; that none learn any of those Trades, but Boys; and that none exercise them during their Lives, but such as chanced to begin with them. Now... particular Trades usually depend on such a variety of Circumstances, both in our own and foreign Nations, that it is scarce possible for them to continue many Years without Increase or Decrease. And whenever there is either a larger or less Demand, than has been usual, for any kind of Manufacture; that Manufacture must, under this Regulation, either want Hands, or be over-burdened with them. But it is equally detrimental to the Nation, that there should be Work without Workmen, or Workmen without Work’.

    ESTC n54414, listing Birmingham, BL, Exeter, Columbia, Harvard and Huntington.

    Kress 5369; Higgs 713.

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  • A Miscellany of Poems, by RELPH, Josiah (1712-1743).
    RELPH, Josiah (1712-1743).
    A Miscellany of Poems, Consisting of Original Poems, Translations, Pastorals in the Cumberland Dialect, Familiar Epistles, Fables, Songs, and Epigrams. By the late Revered Josiah Relph of Sebergham, Cumberland. With a Preface and a Glossary. Glasgow, Robert Foulis for Mr. Thomlinson, 1747.

    First Edition. 8vo, (250 x 120mm), pp. [xlix], 157, a few slightly browned pages and worming towards the end, touching some letters of the glossary and contents, but without serious loss, in the original sheep, single gilt fillet to covers, spine with raised bands, ruled in gilt, red morocco label lettered in gilt, joints cracked but firm and corners slightly worn.

    The first appearance of the collected poems of Josiah Relph, including his poems in the Cumberland dialect. The collection was posthumously published and was edited… (more)

    The first appearance of the collected poems of Josiah Relph, including his poems in the Cumberland dialect. The collection was posthumously published and was edited by Thomas Sanderson, who supplied the biography of Relph in the preface (pp. viii-xvi). A lengthy glossary is also included as well as a contents leaf at the end. With a long list of over 30 pages of subscribers, including a final page listing ‘Names of Subscribers come to hand since printing the above List’.
    ‘Relph’s poetical works were published posthumously in 1747 and 1798. A wider, national circulation of a few of his poems was achieved by their inclusion in Thomas West’s A Guide to the Lakes, 1784, which was read by Wordsworth, Southey, and early nineteenth century poets. Similarly, in the twentieth century, his dialect poetry is included in anthologies of Lakeland verse, such as those of the poet Norman Nicholson (The Lake District: an anthology, 1977). Relph’s best verses are in the dialect of his native county; they are on pastoral subjects, with classical allusions’ (ODNB).

    ESTC t109779.

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  • RICHARDSON, William (1743-1814).
    A Philosophical Analysis and Illustration of some of Shakespeare’s Remarkable Characters. By W. Richardson, Esq. Professor of Humanity in the University of Glasgow. The Third Edition, Corrected. London, Murray, 1784.

    ‘Third Edition, Corrected: a reissue of the ‘New Edition Corrected’, London 1780, with a cancel title-page; First Edition. Two volumes, 8vo, Philosophical Analysis: pp. 207, [1]; Essays on Shakespeare’s Dramatic Characters: [6], vi, [1], 4-170, [4], with half-title, two final advertisement leaves, an errata slip pasted to the foot of p. 170, the title-page in the state with a hyphen in ‘Fleet-Street’ in the imprint; the two works uniformly bound in contemporary calf, flat spines ruled in gilt with red and black morocco labels, lettered and numbered in gilt, with the bookplate of the Marquess of Headfort in each volume.

    A very attractive pair of critical texts on Shakespeare’s characters, uniformly bound (numbered as volumes one and two) and in very fresh condition, from the… (more)

    A very attractive pair of critical texts on Shakespeare’s characters, uniformly bound (numbered as volumes one and two) and in very fresh condition, from the library of the Marquess of Headfort.

    ESTC t136698; t136684.

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  • HAYLEY, William (1745-1820).
    A Philosophical, Historical and Moral Essay on Old Maids; By a Friend to the Sisterhood. Dublin, William Porter for White &c., 1786.

    First Dublin Edition. 3 Volumes, 12 mo (170 x 100 mm) pp. [xx] 280, 283, 277, with half-titles, with William Barker bookplates in each vol, (the imprint in volumes 2 and 3 omits William Porter), some light foxing but generally in very good condition, bound in contemporary tree calf with gilt-embellishment on bindings and and beautiful spines, if a little rubbed.

    A fascinating and influential work on spinsterhood, female sexuality and the role of the unmarried woman in society. Although Hayley - whose friends included notable… (more)

    A fascinating and influential work on spinsterhood, female sexuality and the role of the unmarried woman in society. Although Hayley - whose friends included notable women writers such as Elizabeth Carter, Anna Seward and Charlotte Brooke as well as leading male literary figures such as Blake, Cowper and Southey - refers to himself as ‘a Friend to the Sisterhood’ and sets out to defend ‘Old Maids’, yet his work is consistently derogatory, leaving the archetypal figure of the crabby maiden aunt reinforced by his faint praise. ‘It is my intention’, he writes, ‘to redress all the wrongs of the autumnal maiden, and to place her, if possible, in a state of honour, content, and comfort’ (Introduction, p. xvi). However, his intention falls far short of the mark as he unwittingly recommends unmarried women to a servile and self-effacing role, presumes a strict correlation between virginity and the unmarried state and generally implies them to be an inferior subsection of an already subservient sex.

    First published by Thomas Cadell in 1785, this was a widely read work, with second and third editions following in 1786 and 1793. This is the only Dublin edition. It is an important source for contemporary attitudes to a host of interesting minor characters in the fiction of the age.

    ESTC t72880 lists BL, Cambridge, Oxford, NLI, Royal Irish Academy, Toulouse; Yale, California, McMaster and New York Society Library.

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  • DERRICK, Samuel (1724-1769).
    A Poetical Dictionary; or, the Beauties of the English Poets, Alphabetically Displayed. Containing the most Celebrated Passages in the following Authors, viz. Shakespear, Johnson, Dryden, Lee, Otway, Beaumont, Fletcher, Lansdowne, Butler, Southerne, Addison, Pope, Gay, Garth, Rowe, Young, Thompson, Mallet, Armstrong, Francis, Warton, Whitehead, Mason, Gray, Akenside, Smart, &c. In four volumes. Vol. I [-IV]. London, Newberry &c., 1761.

    First Edition. Four volumes, 12mo, (172 x 98mm), pp. xii, 288; [ii], 244; [ii], 276; [ii], 252, small marginal tear to the title of volume three, without loss, in contemporary half calf over marbled boards, flat spines simply ruled and numbered in gilt with black morocco labels lettered in gilt, with a library stamp marked ‘T.K.S.’ on the title-pages, partly obscuring the lettering, and with the booklabel of Old Sleningford Hall pasted on each title-page, partially or completely obscuring the ‘A’ of the title.

    An attractive copy of Samuel Derrick’s selection of English poetry, arranged according to subject, from ‘Abbey’ to ‘Zimri’, through ‘Folly’, ‘Genius’, ‘Gentlewoman’ (and, later, ‘Woman’),… (more)

    An attractive copy of Samuel Derrick’s selection of English poetry, arranged according to subject, from ‘Abbey’ to ‘Zimri’, through ‘Folly’, ‘Genius’, ‘Gentlewoman’ (and, later, ‘Woman’), ‘Kensington Garden’, ‘Marriage’ and ‘Pleasure’. Derrick was an actor turned writer from Dublin whose most interesting works include a translation of Cyrano de Bergerac’s A Voyage to the Moon, 1753 and an edition of Dryden’s works published in 1760. After the failure of his acting career he continued to work closely with the theatre, making various verse and prose contributions and publishing a successful commentary, The dramatic censor; being remarks upon the conduct, characters, and catastrophe of our most celebrated plays, London 1752. On first arriving in London, he made the acquaintance of Boswell, who later regretted his earlier friendship with ‘this creature... a little blackguard pimping dog’ (Boswell’s London Journal, ed. Potten, 1950, p. 228). Johnson, when asked who was the finer poet, Derrick or Christopher Smart, famously replied, ‘Sir, there is no settling the point of precedency between a louse and a flea’ (Boswell, Life of Johnson, ed. Hill and Powell, 1934, IV, 192 - 193).
    In the preface, Derrick argues that as English boasts the greatest poetry of any modern language, it is an injustice to the nation to neglect it and he believes that the lack of this sort of anthology proves that it has been neglected. He allows that some similar works have been published, for example Byshe’s Art of Poetry, but these have tended to concentrate on translations from the classics: ‘but these are not the perfections of Dryden and Pope: it is Homer and Virgil we compliment in our admiration; the only merits of our great countrymen that occur, are classical knowledge, and talents for smooth versification. It is in their original works, their imitations of nature, and not of men, that we must look for that excellence in our most celebrated writers, which reflects honour upon the nation, and helps to exemplify its literary character’ (p. ix-x).
    ‘The various topics in these volumes are arranged in alphabetical order; so that they may be easily found, and the authors name is affixed to each. Here the man of knowledge and erudition will find an index to refresh his memory; the preceptor proper themes to exercise and enrich the mind of his pupil; and knowledge, supported by ornament, will be insensibly conveyed to the young gentleman’s heart, who shall reap instruction from the amusement... The editor hopes the work may be also an agreeable present to the ladies, many of whom boast a more refined taste than the generality of the other sex’ (p. x - xi).

    ESTC t42700; Roscoe A412.

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  • Amusemens des eaux de Passy by LA SOLLE, Henri Francois, Marquis de (d. 1761).
    LA SOLLE, Henri Francois, Marquis de (d. 1761).
    Amusemens des eaux de Passy par M. Lasolle, Auteur des Mémoires de Versorand. Tome Premier [-Troisième]. Paris, Poinçot, 1787.

    First Edition. Three volumes, 12mo, (178 x 110 mm), pp. [xx], 368 (final leaves misbound), [4] contents, approbation & privilege, 4 advertisements; [iv], 514; [iv]; 423; advertisements printed on verso of half-title of volume one, uncut throughout, a lovely unsophisticated copy in the original (faded) blue paper wrappers, printer’s waste used as pastedowns, pages a little dog-eared, faded white paper labels on spines, lettered in ink, small shelfmark labels at foot of spines.

    A lovely copy of La Solle’s loosely entwined collection of short stories. A fairly traditional construct, La Solle’s ‘novel’ features three friends, one of whom… (more)

    A lovely copy of La Solle’s loosely entwined collection of short stories. A fairly traditional construct, La Solle’s ‘novel’ features three friends, one of whom is sent there for his health, rent a house at Passy and occupy themselves by telling each other stories. There is, however, a particular piquancy in the juxtaposition of the three characters: the narrator, the patient and the patient’s wife. The patient, Monsieur Dursilly, is a distinguished soldier of fifty-two who has been sent to Passy becaue of health problems caused by thirty-five years of soldiering and six months of marriage. His wife is young and pretty. The narrator is invited to Passy by the husband and persuaded to go by the wife. ‘Je connoissois tous mes torts. J’avois vu les défauts de Madame Dursilly en même tems que sa beauté. Je voulois en faire ma maitresse, & non pas mon amie’ (p. 77).
    The first tale to be narrated is found in a heap of papers by the roadside and picked up by the narrator. It is a Conte Moral, with the legend: ‘Quand on a perdu sans ressource l’objet d’une passion heureuse & constante, il ne faut plus prétendre aux vrais plaisirs ni au bonheur’, (I, 9-73). Other stories follow, some narrated by the many new acquaintances made in Passy, some by our three central characters. There are also short fictions by way of essays on different subjects, such as: ‘Question Galante. Doit-on préférer la mort de l’objet aimé à son infidélité? (II, 273-292), ‘Pensées sur les Plaisirs’ (III, 38-102) and ‘Comme quoi une jeune personne entre dans le monde par la mauvaise porte’ (II, 396-435).
    Based on the more famous Amusemens des Eaux de Spa, La Solle has made a few changes, such as limiting the geographical descriptions before they become boring: ‘Il est juste de faire connoitre ses acteurs, & le lieu de la Scene; mais ces fortes de détails ne doivent être que préliminaires; quand ils reviennent dans le cours de l’action principale, ils en dérangent la marche, & réfroidissent les événemens...’ (p. ix).
    La Solle's novel mentioned on the title-page, Mémoires de Versorand, was translated into English by John Hill as Memoirs of a Man of Pleasure, London 1751. He also wrote the rather enticingly titled novel, Bok et Zulba, histoire allegorique traduite du portugais de Don Aurel Eniner, 1740. Another edition of the present novel was published in Paris & Lausanne, 1789. La Solle committed suicide in Paris in 1761.

    OCLC lists BN, BL, Cambridge, Zurich and the Harold B. Lee Library.

    MMF 87.51; Cioranescu 37327.

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  • DODD, William (1729-1777).
    An Oration delivered at the Dedication of Free-Masons’ Hall, Great Queen-street, Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields, on Thursday, May 23, 1776... Published by General Request, under Sanction of the Grand Lodge. London, Robinson, 1776.

    First Edition. 4to, (275 x 220mm), pp. [iv], 16, [4], uncut throughout, partly unopened, stab-sewn in the original wrappers as issued.

    An excellent, unsophisticated copy of this scarce speech given by the colourful and unfortunate William Dodd, poet, dramatist, cleric and forger. A prolific author, in… (more)

    An excellent, unsophisticated copy of this scarce speech given by the colourful and unfortunate William Dodd, poet, dramatist, cleric and forger. A prolific author, in addition to his theological works, Dodd wrote several plays, numerous poems, including The African Prince, 1749 (telling the story of the rescued slave, William Ansah Sessarakoo), a ‘rather loose novel’ called The Sisters, 1754 and a compilation, The Beauties of Shakespeare, thought to be where Goethe first discovered Shakespeare. Dodd’s greatest success lay in his powers of oratory. He was enormously popular and effective as a preacher and his sermons on behalf of charities, such as the ‘Magdalen House’, were much praised. Horace Walpole wrote in his Letters (iii, 282) that Dodd spoke ‘very eloquently and touchingly’, in the French style, and that many of his hearers were reduced to tears. However, scandal and increasing personal debt led him to forge a bond in the name of his patron, Lord Chesterfield, and he was arrested, committed for trial and convicted in February 1777. A flurry of pamphlets followed and there were numerous petitions on his behalf, one of which bore the signatures of twenty-three thousand people. Dr. Johnson tried to obtain a pardon for him, wrote several papers and petitions in his defence and wrote a sermon for him, which Dodd preached to his fellow-prisoners in Newgate chapel on 6th June. He was executed on 27th June 1777.
    The scarce pamphlet gives a short history of masonry and a celebration of its achievements. The final four leaves contain, after a separate title-page but with continuous register, ‘Proposals for printing by subscription, Free-masonry: or, a general history of civilization. In which the rise and progress of arts, sciences, laws and religion, will be detailed: together with an account of the lives of such sages and philosophers, eminent men and masons, as have added to the improvement and cultivation of mankind’. This larger work on the history of freemasonry, intended to have been two volumes quarto, was never produced. At the foot of the title-page is the note: ‘Any profits arising from the sale of this Oration, will be given to the Hall fund’.

    ESTC t105332, at BL, CUL, Bodleian, Folger, Grand Lodge of New York, Huntington, McMaster, North Carolina and Yale.

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  • Catholics to leave London
    GWYN, Francis (1648-1734).
    An Order of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, assembled at Westminster, in the House of Lords, December 22. 1688. London, Awnsham and William Churchill, 1688.

    Large folio broadside (452 x 345mm, with a section of 30 x 154 cut from the lower left corner of the margin: no text missing). Single block of text beneath drop-head title, with list of names before and after text, large tear through the text to the central fold, with no loss, three folds.

    An important anti-Catholic proclamation issued just a few weeks after the landing of William of Orange at Brixham in Devon and the day before James… (more)

    An important anti-Catholic proclamation issued just a few weeks after the landing of William of Orange at Brixham in Devon and the day before James II fled England. The order requires that all Catholics, with a few exceptions, leave London within five days. The family of Alexander Pope was one of those affected but Pope himself was only a baby at the time.
    ‘The Lords Spiritual and Temporal... considering the great Mischiefs that have happened unto, and do still threaten this Kingdom, by the evil Designs and Practices of the Papists, in great numbers resorting unto, and abiding in the City of London, and places adjacent to the said City; For the better preservation of the Peace and common Safety, have thought fit, and do Order and Require, That all Papists, and Reputed Papists do, and shall, within Five Days after the Date hereof, depart from the said City, unto their respective Habitations; from which they are not to remove above Five Miles distance’.

    ESTC r213737, well held in the UK and Ireland (6 copies in London, 3 in Scotland, 4 in Oxford, 1 in Dublin) but only Harvard, Huntington, Newberry and Indiana in North America.

    Wing 2836A; Steele I, 3933.

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  • Anecdotes of Eminent Painters in Spain, by CUMBERLAND, Richard (1732-1811).
    CUMBERLAND, Richard (1732-1811).
    Anecdotes of Eminent Painters in Spain, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; with cursory remarks upon the present state of arts in that kingdom. By Richard Cumberland. In two volumes. Vol. I [-II]. London, J. Walter, 1782.

    First Edition. Two volumes, 12mo (156 x 95 mm), pp. [iv], 225, [1], [2] index; [iv], 224, [1] index, [1], in contemporary tree calf, spines ruled in compartments and numbered in gilt, red morocco labels lettered in gilt.

    A handsome copy of this guide to Spanish art written by the dramatist and diplomat, Richard Cumberland. Public awareness of the art and artists of… (more)

    A handsome copy of this guide to Spanish art written by the dramatist and diplomat, Richard Cumberland. Public awareness of the art and artists of Spain was growing as travellers made comparisons with the work of the Italian masters. Collectors and dealers were beginning to look towards Spain as a new source of supply and Cumberland’s detailed work was a great success. It was based in part on Cumberland’s observations made in Spain and in part on Antonio Palomino’s Vidas de los pintores y estatuarios eminentes españoles, which was translated into English in 1739.
    In 1780, Cumberland was sent on a confidential mission to Spain in order to negotiate a peace treaty during the American War of Independence that would weaken the anti-British coalition. Although he was well received by Charles III of Spain and his government, the sovereignty of Gibraltar proved insurmountable and Cumberland was forced to return to England empty handed. The government then refused to repay his expenses, even though he was out of pocket to the tune of £4500, a blow to his finances that he never really recovered from. One of the few positive results of his time in Spain was the research that he did for this book.
    ‘I had already published in two volumes my Anecdotes of eminent Painters in Spain. I am flattered to believe’, Cumberland wrote, ‘it was an interesting and curious work to readers of a certain sort, for there had been no such regular history of the Spanish School in our language, and when I added to it the authentic catalogue of the paintings in the royal palace at Madrid, I gave the world what it had not seen before as that catalogue was the first that had been made and was by permission of the King of Spain undertaken at my request and transmitted to me after my return to England’ (Memoirs of Richard Cumberland, 1806, pp. 298-299).

    ESTC t116936.

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  • licenious novel set in the Indies
    LA MORLIERE, Charles Jacques Louis August Rochette, Chevalier de (1719-1785).
    Angola, Histoire Indienne; Ouvrage sans vraisemblance. I. [-II] Partie. ‘Agra’, the Grand-Mogol, ie Paris, 1746.

    First Edition. 12mo, (162 x 92 mm), pp. [ii], 20, [vi], 162; [iv], 199, in contemporary calf, rebacked retaining the original spine, red morocco label lettered in gilt, spine gilt in compartments, marbled endpapers, red edges.

    First edition of this famous satire on Paris society, ‘chef d'œuvre de la littérature galante’ and one of the best-sellers of pre-Revolutionary France. Set in… (more)

    First edition of this famous satire on Paris society, ‘chef d'œuvre de la littérature galante’ and one of the best-sellers of pre-Revolutionary France. Set in the exotic Indies, where La Morlière creates an imaginary and fantastical world, the nature of which allows him great scope in satirising contemporary French society. The novel opens with the marriage of the just king, Erzeb-can, to Princess Arsenide, a relation of the Fée Lumineuse, queen of a neighbouring nation. It is their son, Angola, the eponymous hero, whose adventures during his travels through the Indies and Arabia make up the body of the narrative. Edouard Thiery called this novel 'le miroir du siècle, le livre des jolies boudoirs, le manuel charmant de la conversation à la mode'. The dedication, bound as usual after the preface and the contents, is addressed ‘aux petites maitresses’ and sets the tone for the ‘free and licencious’ spirit of the text. By far the most successful of La Morlière’s works, it ran to numerous editions throughout the eighteenth century, with at least ten further ‘Agra’ printings in the decade following publication.
    ‘The reader is continually invited to laugh mockingly at the frivolity of a world where only fashion reigns. La Morlière’s characters exist as functions of their pleasures: the theater, the opera, receptions, reading, hunting, gambling, and - above and before all else - the dynamics and delights of the bedroom. While the narration of these pleasures can never be the equivalent of experiencing them, what La Morlière does offer is a diction of flippancy and cynicism that invites his readers to share an assumed superiority to characters whom in most cases they would be delighted to replace; (Thomas M. Kavanagh, Enlightened Pleasures, 2010, p. 32).
    Libertine, musketeer, theatrical critic and associate of Voltaire, La Morlière established his headquarters in the Café Procope where a clique of journalists soon formed around him. He was a great operator in the theatrical world, both in the 'Théâtre français' and the 'Comédie italienne', where he was known for the dubious nature of his dealings. However, his theatrical career came to a fairly abrupt end when he thought that by engineering applause in the usual way he could guarantee the success of his own plays, a mistake for which he paid the price of his career.

    Cioranescu 36472; Jones p. 92; Gay I:221; Darnton 38; Hartig p. 50.

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  • the bibliographer's copy
    GACON, François (1667-1725).
    Anti Rousseau, par le Poëte sans Fard. Rotterdam, Fritsch and Böhm, 1712.

    First Edition. 12mo, (153 x 92mm), engraved frontispiece and pp. xii, 534, folding engraved plate, title page in red and black, in contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt in compartments, slightly worn especially head of spine, red morocco label lettered in gilt, with Lachèvre's book, feather and snake device gilt on the upper cover and his Le Vésinet bookplate (skull and books on table).

    Lachèvre's copy of this satirical compilation in verse and prose by François Gacon. The volume also contains 'Recueil des pièces du Sr. Saurin contre Sr.… (more)

    Lachèvre's copy of this satirical compilation in verse and prose by François Gacon. The volume also contains 'Recueil des pièces du Sr. Saurin contre Sr. Rousseau', pp. [395]-531. With a folding engraved plate depicting a hearth side scene with a shoemaker's new-born baby and accompanying poem: 'Histoire Veritable et Remarquable, arrivée à l'endroit d'un nommé Roux, fils d'un Cordonnier, lequel aiant renié son Pére, le Diable en prit possession'.
    Another edition of the same year, pp. 512, formed the third volume of Les Oeuvres de Sr. Rousseau, Rotterdam, 1712. It was also later published under the title 'Histoire satyrique de la vie et des ouvrages de Mr. Rousseau', Paris 1716.

    See Lachèvre, ‘Bibliographie des ouvrages de Gacon’, 1927, in Bulletin du Bibliophile.

    Cioranescu 29968 (calling for pp. 512, ie the second edition, see above).

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  • BARTOLOZZI, Francesco (active 18th century.)
    Apologia delle Ricerche istorico-critiche circa quali puo servire d’Agguinta scritta da Francesco Bartolozzi in confutazione della Lettera Seconda allo stampatore data col nome del Padre Caonvai delle scuole pie. Florence, Gaetano Cambiagi, 1789.

    First Edition. 4to (195 x 143 mm), pp. 40, two gatherings slightly misbound but text complete, printed on thick paper with wide margins, in the original carta rustica wrappers.

    An important work in the Vespucci controversy, this is the first edition of Bartolozzi’s spirited defence of his Richerche istorico-critiche circa alle scoperte d'Amerigo Vespucci… (more)

    An important work in the Vespucci controversy, this is the first edition of Bartolozzi’s spirited defence of his Richerche istorico-critiche circa alle scoperte d'Amerigo Vespucci con l'aggiunta di una relazione del medesimo fin ora inedita, Florence, Gaetano Cambiagi, 1789. Bartolozzi’s publication was the first printed version of Vespucci’s Letter from Lisbon, 1502, which is itself a continuation of the letter started in Cape Verdi. Bartolozzi divides the present work into six parts: a general examination of the second letter to the printer, a survey of opinions about trade in the time of Vespucci, a discussion about the island of Haiti (’Isola Antiglia’), an examination of Vespucci’s error in his location of the ‘Cape of Cattigara’, a new examination of Vespucci’s methods in determining longitude and a final discussion of some interesting facts which are revealed in the ‘Letter to the Printer’.

    Sabin 3799.

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  • VILLIERS, Marc-Albert de (1730?-1778).
    Apologie du célibat chretien. Par M. l’Abbé *** Prêtre & Licencié Paris, La veuve Damonneville, Musier fils, Vatel, la veuve Berton, 1761.

    [with] Sentimens des

    First editions. Two works in one volume, 12mo (168 x 92 mm), pp. [ii], [xii], [2], 414, [2]; [2], 14, with occasional slight browning, small paper flaw to lower outer blank corner of I5, bound in handsome contemporary crushed crimson morocco, with an elaborate border of double gilt fillet, feather tools, fleurons and tendrils along inner border, gilt centrepieces with the arms of Cardinal G. Doria Pamphili, spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, with green morocco label lettered in gilt, with blue silk endpapers, gilt dentelles, all edges gilt, the upper joint partly split at head with small loss, minimally repaired at foot, head and foot of spine a bit rubbed, endpapers a little faded, with the nineteenth century ownership inscription of Pietro Ceriani and the nineteenth century bookplate of Bernardine Murphy, with manuscript shelfmark to front pastedown, red ink stamp of Libraria Colonna to front free endpaper, title and final blank, with some offsetting.

    A superbly bound copy of two scarce religious works, with an illustrious provenance. Originally bound for the Cardinal Giuseppe Maria Doria Pamphili (1751-1819) with his… (more)

    A superbly bound copy of two scarce religious works, with an illustrious provenance. Originally bound for the Cardinal Giuseppe Maria Doria Pamphili (1751-1819) with his arms gilt on both covers. Pamphili was apostolic nuncio in France between 1773 and 1785 and was later Secretary of State for the Holy See. In the nineteenth century, it passed into the library of the major Roman family of the Colonna, who were related to the Doria Pamphili.
    The priest and doctor of law Marc-Albert de Villiers was the author of at least four pamphlets blending Christian philosophy, theology and canon law. Both works in this volume are concerned with marriage. The first is a defence of clerical celibacy, against the ‘libels full of the most horrible impieties, the grossest obscenities and the greatest hate towards the Christian and Catholic religion’. The second is a critique of J.-P.-F. de Ripert-Monclar’s Mémoire...sur les mariages clandestins des protestants en France, 1750, which advocated the legalisation of Protestant marriages. He was especially opposed to Protestants who feigned conversion to Catholicism just to be allowed to marry Catholics, returning later to their Protestant convictions.

    1: OCLC lists BN, Sainte-Geneviève, Cornell and Penn.
    II: OCLC lists BN, Sainte-Geneviève, Cambridge, Bowdoin and Library of Congress.

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  • in green morocco by Thomas Van Os
    Aristée by HEMSTERHUIS, Frans (1721-1790).
    HEMSTERHUIS, Frans (1721-1790).
    Aristée ou de la Divinité. Paris, 1779.

    First Edition. 12mo, (162 x 94), pp. x, 208, preserving the initial blank, the engraved vignette on the title-page and the head- and tail-pieces are unsigned, in contemporary green morocco, unsigned binding, possibly by Thomas Van Os, with elaborate floral tooling to covers, spine gilt in compartments, slightly rubbed, red morocco label lettered in gilt, simple gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, gilt edges.

    A scarce philosophical work by the 'Dutch Socrates', Frans Hemsterhuis, a Dutch aesthete who lavished as much care in the design of his works as… (more)

    A scarce philosophical work by the 'Dutch Socrates', Frans Hemsterhuis, a Dutch aesthete who lavished as much care in the design of his works as he did in their composition. He wrote a number of essays and dialogues on moral philosophy which brought him into contact with Goethe, Herder and and his life-long friend, Princess Amalia von Gallitzin, who did much to strengthen his reputation amongst the German intelligentsia and encourage the translation of many of his works. Hemsterhuis' ideas influenced some of the greatest German thinkers, including Kant, Novalis, Schlegel and Schiller.
    As with all of Hemsterhuis' works, Aristée was privately printed and distributed. The printing is typically elegant, the text block measuring 93 x 47 mm, a small and dense block of text within wide margins, in the present copy measuring 167 x 96 mm. The elaborate green morocco binding on this copy is probably by Thomas Van Os, a leading binder of the last quarter of the eighteenth century in the Netherlands. Van Os was commissioned by Hemsterhuis to create bindings for some of his later works, alongside Christiaan Micke, who bound so many copies of Hemsterhuis’ earlier works for presentation. Of the two, Van Os is more associated with the flat spin, as here, in addition to which this binding bears many similarities with the two bindings (particularly fig. 7) by Van Os reproduced in Jan Storm van Leeuwen’s article in The Book Collector (see The Book Collector, Summer 2001, figs. 6 and 7, pp. 215-216).
    'So, let this stand as a charge to collect Hemsterhuis', writes Roger Stoddard in conclusion, 'to look more closely at his books, to solve their mysteries, and to connect the careful designs of his bookmaking with the philosophical texts they embrace and convey with such eloquence. This is just a way of asking you to leave your place marker here to honour Hemsterhuis who always provided a ribbon place marker in the bindings he commissioned for presentation' (p. 189).

    See Roger Eliot Stoddard, 'François Hemsterhuis: Some Uncollected Authors VIII', in The Book Collector, Summer 2001, pp. 186-201; Jan Storm van Leeuwen, 'Frans Hemsterhuis' Binders and some bindings on Lettre sur l'Homme, ibid, pp. 202-216.

    Stoddard 9.

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