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  • Cicero spun to the utmost - an attempt to improve Denham
    CATHERALL, Samuel (1661?-1723?).
    Cato Major. A Poem. Upon the Model of Tully’s Essay of Old Age. In Four Books. By Samuel Catherall, M.A. Fellow of Oriel College, in Oxford, and Prebendary of Wells. London, Roberts, 1725.

    First Edition. 8vo, (193 x 119mm), pp. xvi, 88, with an engraved frontispiece included in the pagination (as in Foxon), the first and last few leaves a little dusty, in contemporary gilt and blind ruled calf, spine ruled, considerably worn and with the joints split but holding on the cords, head and tail-cap missing, the surface of the boards worn, extremities bumped, with the ownership inscription of ‘Jno. Aspinall’ on the title page, an early catalogue annotation on the front free endpaper and the recent booklabel of Jim Edwards.

    A scarce versification of one of Cicero’s most famous essays, printed by Samuel Richardson. The author, fellow of Oriel College and a canon of Wells… (more)

    A scarce versification of one of Cicero’s most famous essays, printed by Samuel Richardson. The author, fellow of Oriel College and a canon of Wells Cathedral, explains in his preface that he was inspired by Denham’s earlier translation of the same text: ‘About three years ago, lighting on Sir John Denham’s translation of that celebrated piece (Tully’s book De Senectute) and, not without some wonder and pity, seeing that great genius fall so much below the spirit of the Roman orator, in his English metre; I was so vain, as to think a kind of paraphrase of the same essay, would succeed easier and better: and therefore, at my leisure hours, when severer studies became tedious, I undertook to build a poem (if it is worthy to be call’d so) on Tully’s most exquisite model; taking special care to follow his exalted sentiments, as closely as I could, and not presuming to add much of my own, unless where I am fond of spinning out a Ciceronian thought to the utmost’.

    ESTC t128149; Foxon C72.

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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.

    View basket More details Price: £800.00
  • MONTAGU, Mary Wortley, Lady (1689-1762).
    Letters of the Right Honourable Lady M----y W----y M----e: written during her travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, to persons of distinction, men of letters, &c. in different parts of Europe. Which contain among other curious relations, accounts of the policy and manners o the Turks; Drawn from Sources that have been inaccessible to other Travellers. A New Edition. To which are now first added, Poems, by the same Author. In two volumes. Vol. I [-II]. London, Cadell, 1784.

    New Edition. Two volumes, 8vo, pp. ix, [i], [ii] Advertisement of the Editor, 220; [iv], 272, small piece torn from the margin of II, 33, in contemporary tree calf, gilt border to covers, flat spines elaborately gilt in compartments, red labels lettered in gilt and red oval numbering pieces set in green morocco labels, gilt, with the contemporary heraldic bookplates of Robert Hunter of Thurston and the later booklabel of Douglas Grant.

    A very handsome copy of this scarce edition of Mary Wortley Montagu’s seminal travelogue, first published in 1763. The preface, by Mary Astell (1666-1731), was… (more)

    A very handsome copy of this scarce edition of Mary Wortley Montagu’s seminal travelogue, first published in 1763. The preface, by Mary Astell (1666-1731), was composed in 1724 for Montagu’s manuscript letters.
    ‘Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s husband was appointed ambassador to the Porte in 1716, and she accompanied him to Constantinople. During her sojourn in Turkey she recorded her observations and experiences in a journal (destroyed after her death) which provided material for her actual letters to her friends, of which only a few survive, and for the series of 52 letters which she composed a few years after her return to England. These are not actual letters, though headed and dated close to the dates of real letters. The form is partly fiction but provides the substance of her life abroad and her opinions on Turkish life and customs ‘ (Blackmer).

    ESTC t66781; Rothschild 1452; Blackmer 1150.

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  • MANNERS, Lady Catharine Rebecca, Baroness Hunting Tower (1766?-1852).
    Review of Poetry, Ancient and Modern. A Poem. By Lady M******. London, Booth, 1799.

    First Edition. 4to, (280 x 220mm), pp. [iv], 30, uncut throughout, last leaf a little dust-soiled, stitched as issued, extremities a little worn.

    A good, fresh copy in original condition, uncut and stitched as issued, of Lady Manners' poem about the history of poetry, dedicated to her son.… (more)

    A good, fresh copy in original condition, uncut and stitched as issued, of Lady Manners' poem about the history of poetry, dedicated to her son. Originally from Cork, Catherine Rebecca Grey came to live in England in 1790 on her marriage to William Manners, later Lord Huntingtower of Leicester. The nostalgic Irish landscapes of her first volume of poetry, with its tales of lovers in Norman times, brought her much popularity, earning her the compliment, ‘a most accomplished lady’, in the Gentleman’s Magazine.
    The present poem, Manners’ second and last publication, also received a favourable review in the Gentleman’s Magazine, where she was praised for succinctly characterising ‘the thematic and moral concerns of poets from ‘matchless Homer’ to ‘enlightened Johnson’. The extensive catalogue of ancient poets, including Pindar, Theocritus, Lucretius, and Tasso, and English poets since Chaucer, reveals discerning intelligence and wide reading. Poetry is enlisted to lead the way to moral truth; “Addison’s enlighten’d page / Charmed while it reformed the age”; and “Piety’s seraphic flame / Mark(s) enlighten’d Johnson’s name”’ (GM, August 1799).

    ESTC t106175; Jackson p. 238.

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  • FERGUSSON, Robert (1750-1774).
    Poems on Various Subjects by Robert Ferguson. In two parts. Paisley, Neilson, 1796.

    18mo, (130 x 78mm), pp. iv, [5]-226, [2] contents, text fairly browned in part, in contemporary calf, foot of spine chipped, rubbed on extremities but sound, with the ownership inscription of ‘Robert Whyte, Pewterer, 1802, Volm 24’.

    A scarce posthumous edition of Fergusson’s Poems on Various Subjects, first published in 1773. It was shortly after the publication of these poems that Fergusson… (more)

    A scarce posthumous edition of Fergusson’s Poems on Various Subjects, first published in 1773. It was shortly after the publication of these poems that Fergusson started suffering depression. He then, in falling down a flight of stairs, suffered a serious blow to his head from which his reason and his health never recovered. He died in the Edinburgh Bedlam in the following year, aged 24. His poetry was later made popular by Robert Burns, who saw in him his own precursor. In 1787 Burns erected a momument at Fergusson’s grave in Canongate Kirkyard, commemorating him as ‘Scotia’s Poet’.
    In the same year, Smith of Paisley also printed Fergusson’s The Ghaists: a kirk-yard eclogue (ESTC t184779, at NLS only).

    ESTC n24650, at NLS, Bodleian, Columbia and Huntington only.

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  • SMITH, Horace (1779-1849).
    Reuben Apsley. By the author of Brambletye House, The Tor Hill, &c. In three volumes. Vol. I [-III]. London, Colburn, 1827.

    First Edition. Three volumes (187 x 113 mm), 8vo (195 x 115 mm), pp. viii, 340, [ii], 369; [ii], 392; half-title present in the first volume only, in a striking contemporary binding of half pale calf over marbled boards, the boards slightly rubbed, spines gilt in compartments with two red morocco labels on each spine, lettered and numbered in gilt, endpapers and edges marbled in brown and blue, with the booksellers ticket of Poole and Harding, Chester and the later contemporary ownership inscription of ‘Hugill’.

    A very handsome copy of the first edition of one of Horace Smith’s popular historical novels. In 1812, after the rebuilding of the Drury Lane… (more)

    A very handsome copy of the first edition of one of Horace Smith’s popular historical novels. In 1812, after the rebuilding of the Drury Lane Theatre, the managers offered a prize of £50 for an address to be recited at the opening. Together with his elder brother James, Horace wrote parodies of poets of the day which were then published as supposedly failed entries for the competition. Horace’s own entries included parodies of Byron, Moore, Scott and Bowles while James parodied Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge and Crabbe. The resultant Rejected Addresses, which was published in 1812, was hugely popular and is still acclaimed as one of the most brilliant parodies of English poets. Smith enjoyed a wide circle of friendships, most particularly including Leigh Hunt and Shelley, with whom he entered numerous poetry competitions; he also helped Shelley to manage his finances.
    In 1818, Smith took part with Shelley in a sonnet-writing competition on the subject of the Nile River, inspired by Diodorus Siculus and submitted to The Examiner. Both poets wrote sonnets called ‘Ozymandias’: Shelley’s was published on 11th January 1818 under the pseudonym Glirastes and Smith’s was published on 1st February 1818 under the initials H.S. Smith later renamed his sonnet ‘On a Stupendous Leg of Granite, Discovered Standing by Itself in the Deserts of Egypt, with the Inscription Inserted Below’ and it was published in his collection Amarynthus.
    Shelley’s sonnet is well known to all but here for fun we reproduce Horace Smith’s:
    ‘In Egypt's sandy silence, all alone,
    Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
    The only shadow that the Desert knows.
    "I am great Ozymandias," saith the stone,
    "The King of kings: this mighty city shows
    The wonders of my hand." The city's gone!
    Naught but the leg remaining to disclose
    The sight of that forgotten Babylon.
    We wonder, and some hunter may express
    Wonder like ours, when through the wilderness
    Where London stood, holding the wolf in chase,
    He meets some fragment huge, and stops to guess
    What wonderful, but unrecorded, race
    Once dwelt in that annihilated place.’
    Alongside his literary output, which included poetry and several novels strongly influenced by Walter Scott, Horace Smith was a stockbroker. Shelley said of him: ‘Is it not odd that the only truly generous person I ever knew who had money enough to be generous with should be a stockbroker? He writes poetry and pastoral dramas and yet knows how to make money, and does make it, and is still generous’.

    Sadleir, XIX Century Fiction, 3107; not in Wolff, who lists most of his other novels.

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  • MACKENZIE, Mary Jane (fl. 1820-1829).
    Private Life: or, Varieties of Character and Opinion. In two volumes. By the author of “Geraldine”, &c. &c. Vol. I [-II]. London, Cadell, 1829.

    First Edition. Two volumes, 8vo (189 x 110 mm), pp. [iv], 361, [1]; [iv], 391, [1], with the half-titles and a final advertisement leaf in Vol. II, in contemporary half black calf over marbled boards, spines gilt and blind-locked in compartments, red morocco labels lettered and numbered in gilt, extremities a little rubbed but a good copy, with the contemporary ownership inscription ‘Beatrice Mildred from her Mother, 1829’.

    An elegant society novel by an obscure Scottish writer, author of at least one other novel, Geraldine, or Modes of Faith and Practice, London 1820.… (more)

    An elegant society novel by an obscure Scottish writer, author of at least one other novel, Geraldine, or Modes of Faith and Practice, London 1820. Private Life, a readable tale of the rising middle class and a young woman’s experience of it, enjoyed considerable popularity, running to second and third editions (in 1830 and 1835) as well as a New York edition of 1829.

    Garside, Raven & Schöwerling 1829:57; Wolff 4346; not in Sadleir.

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  • GRAVES, Richard (1715-1804).
    Euphrosyne: or, Amusements on the Road of Life. By the author of The Spiritual Quixote. London, Dodsley, 1776 -1780.

    First Editions. Two volumes, 8vo, (178 x 112mm), engraved frontispiece to each volume (v. I Collyer after C.W.B.; v. II C. Grignion after W. Hoare) and pp. [iv], viii, [viii], 308; xvii, [i], [x], 211, two further engraved vignettes in the text to volume one by Collyer, engraved tail-pieces on the last page of both volumes (v. I by ‘J.W.’; v. II by C. Grignion), small tear on the last leaf of volume two, without loss and not touching text, final leaves rather browned, in contemporary calf, spines gilt in compartments with red morocco labels lettered in gilt, and second red labels numbered in gilt, with a later Crichton Stuart heraldic bookplate.

    An attractive set of this elegant poetical compilation by Richard Graves, author of the highly successful picaresque novel, The Spiritual Quixote, 1773. The two volumes… (more)

    An attractive set of this elegant poetical compilation by Richard Graves, author of the highly successful picaresque novel, The Spiritual Quixote, 1773. The two volumes were published four years apart, and the second volume is more commonly found with the second edition of the first volume which was brought out with it. The first volume is dedicated to Lady Head, wife of Sir Thomas Head, of Langley in Berkshire, and the second volume is dedicated to Mrs Warburton ‘as a slender tribute of gratitude for many and important favours received from the family at Prior-Park’. The first volume begins with an eight page Apology - ‘some apology is undoubtedly requisite for publishing at this time of day Madrigals in form’ - in which Graves gives an account of his poetical development, charting influences from Voltaire to his friend William Shenstone. He concludes by stating that, if any of his poems had been immoral, he would sooner have consigned them ‘to eternal oblivion’ than have printed them, even though he fears their destination to humble: ‘to be exposed on stalls... or to encrease the trash of circulating libraries’. The preface to the second volume explains that much of the contents were written for a poetical society at ‘B- E-n’, viz. the literary salon hosted by Anna Miller at her house in Batheaston. Although a number of important writers attended the salon, including David Garrick and Anna Seward, its pretentious customs and Miller’s own mediocre poetry caused it to be widely mocked. ‘This society, I am aware’, writes Graves, ‘has been exposed to the undeserved insults of envy and disappointment: and even to the affected sneers of some fastidious critics of a more respectable character’, by which he probably means Dr. Johnson.
    The volumes are attractively illustrated, with engraved frontispieces, vignettes and tail-pieces. The frontispiece to volume one depicts a bucolic scene illustrating a quotation from Virgil, engraved by Joseph Collyer (1748-1827); the two further engraved vignettes in the text are also by Collyer. The frontispiece to volume two, featuring another bucolic scene, is by Charles Grignion (1721-1810). This shows a flighty lady playing the tamborine (possibly Euphrosyne herself, the goddess of mirth and one of the three graces) with three ladies dancing in the background. The half-page engraving on the final leaf (also by Grignion, after C.W.B.) depicts an antique urn decorated with laurels: presumably this refers to the vase used at the Batheaston salon, which was a key feature in the lambasting of the society. Purchased by Anna Miller after it was dug up at Frascati in 1759, the vase was decorated with laurels and placed on an altar, where guests were invited to approach, in order to place their poetical compositions in the vase.

    ESTC t146430; t126154.

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  • MACPHERSON, James (1736-1796).
    BAOUR LORMIAN, Pierre-Marie-François-Louis (1770-1854), translator.
    Ossian, Barde du IIIe siècle. Poésies Galliques en vers Français, par P.M.L. Baour Lormian. Second Edition corrigée et augmentée. Paris, Didot, 1804.

    Second Edition of this translation. 12mo, pp. [vi], 288, text lightly foxed, in contemporary polished calf (almost cat’s paw), gilt borders to covers, flat spine gilt in compartments with black morocco label lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, gilt dentelles, gilt edges, with a bookplate removed from the intitial blank.

    Second edition of this translation of MacPherson’s Ossian poems, first published as Poésies Galliques en vers français, Paris 1801. A note before the text, signed… (more)

    Second edition of this translation of MacPherson’s Ossian poems, first published as Poésies Galliques en vers français, Paris 1801. A note before the text, signed by the printers Capelle and Renand, state that they will take any printer or seller of pirated editions of this work, to court. Baour Lormian’s translation was certainly popular; even apart from any piracies, a fifth edition was published in 1827. With a dedication to Joseph Despaze, reading simply ‘Vous aimez Ossian: recevez ce travail comme un témoignage de mon estime et de mon amitié’. An attractive copy in a slightly snazzy binding.

    OCLC lists the National Library of Scotland, California State, Harvard, Bowdoin and South Carolina.

    See Cioranescu 9341.

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  • scarce French edition of Irish novel
    BANIM, John (1798-1842).
    DEFAUCONPRET, Auguste-Jean-Baptiste (1767-1843).
    Padhre na Moulh, ou le Mendiant des Ruines, Roman Irlandais par M. Banim. Traduit de l’Anglais par M. A.-J.-B. Defauconpret, Traducteur des romans historiques de Sir Walter Scott. Tome Premier [-Second]. Paris, Gosselin, 1829.

    First Edition in French. Two volumes, 12mo, (162 x 96mm), pp. [iv], 234; [iv], 216, in contemporary quarter sheep over diagonally striped grey boards, vellum tips, spines ruled, numbered and lettered in gilt, edges sprinkled, with Anthony Surtees’ bookplate.

    The scarce first edition in French of John Banim’s novel, Peter of the Castle, first published in Dublin in 1826. The translation is by the… (more)

    The scarce first edition in French of John Banim’s novel, Peter of the Castle, first published in Dublin in 1826. The translation is by the travel writer and anglophile Auguste-Jean-Baptiste Defauconpret, now mostly remembered as the translator of Walter Scott’s novels.
    ‘The Banims may be justly called the first national novelists of Ireland... Their ambition was to do for Ireland what Scott, by his Waverley Novels, had done for Scotland — to make their countrymen known with their national traits and national customs and to give a true picture of the Irish character with its bright lights and deep shadows’ (Mathew Flaherty, The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York 1907).

    OCLC lists Trinity College Dublin and Brigham Young only. The British Library also has a copy.

    See Block p. 13; not in Sadleir.

    View basket More details Price: £350.00
  • The First Sitting by KELSALL, Charles (1782-1857).
    KELSALL, Charles (1782-1857).
    The First Sitting of the Committee on the Proposed Monument to Shakspeare. Carefully taken in Short-Hand by Zachary Craft, Amanuensis to the Chairman. Cheltenham, G.A. Williams, 1823.

    First Edition. Small 8vo, (155 x 93 mm), pp. 88, [3], in contemporary marbled boards with green cloth spine, printed paper label on front board: a little dusty and slightly worn at extremities but a good copy.

    Attributed to the architect and traveller Charles Kelsall, this is an entertaining fantasy arising from the proposal to erect a national monument to Shakespeare. Written… (more)

    Attributed to the architect and traveller Charles Kelsall, this is an entertaining fantasy arising from the proposal to erect a national monument to Shakespeare. Written in the form of a play, it is set in the green-room at midnight, where the committee take their seats around a long table. As they prepare to begin their meeting, there is a peal of thunder and a ball of fire rends one of the walls, through which appears the shade of Aristotle, who addresses the committee with his thoughts on Shakespeare. He is followed by many others, including Longinus, Aeschylus, Molière, Milton (blind), Dryden, Voltaire, Diderot, Johnson, Susanna Shakespeare, Frank Crib (owner of the Butcher’s Shop at Stratford-upon-Avon), Peter Ogee, an Architect of York, Obadiah Flagel, a Schoolmaster of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Samuel Grim, Plug-turner of the Pipes which supply the Theatre with Gas.

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  • DUN, David Erskine, Lord (1670-1758).
    Lord Dun’s Friendly and Familiar Advices, Adapted to the various Stations and Conditions of Life, and the mutual Relations to be observed amongst them. Edinburgh, Hamilton & Balfour, 1754.

    First Edition, First Issue, with p. viii misnumbered vii. 12mo, pp. vii, (ie viii), 243, in contemporary mottled calf, spine with raised bands, simply gilt in compartments with red morocco label lettered in gilt, with the contemporary heraldic bookplate of Inglis of Cramond and the manuscript shelfmark ‘Calder House 7.E.’ on the front pastedown and the ownership inscription ‘Cramond’ on the title page.

    An attractive copy with a nice Scottish provenance of this famous handbook of legal and general advice to those in different stations in life. The… (more)

    An attractive copy with a nice Scottish provenance of this famous handbook of legal and general advice to those in different stations in life. The first part of the work contains specific legal advice to different ranks of lawyers and parties engaged in law suits. After this is a section on ‘Advice to the Monarch’ which is followed by ‘Advice to the Subject’. Further sections are addressed to ministers of state, the landed gentry, the man of wealth, the poor and indigent, the merchant, tradesman, farmer and more general advice to husbands and wives, parents and children, old and young, masters and servants, rich and poor. This is the only known publication by the Jacobite judge David Erskine, generally known under his judicial designation, Lord Dun. An eminent member of the Scottish bar, he was also a jealous Jacobite and friend to the non-jurant episcopal clergy. As a member of the last Scottish parliament, he was ardently opposed to the union.
    ESTC notes another issue (t193481), with p. viii correctly numbered and with the amended imprint ‘for G. Hamilton and J. Balfour’. Scarcer than the present issue, it is listed at Aberdeen, Cambridge, NLS and DLC only. Curiously, this copy has a stub before the title page, suggesting a cancel, but given that it has the earlier states of the two pages, it may be more likely that an initial blank has been cut away.

    Provenance: Sir John Inglis of Cramond, 2nd Baronet (1683-1771), Postmaster General for Scotland.

    ESTC t114020.

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  • ‘Marked by real poetic power and ingenious imitative faculty’ (DNB)
    HOGG, James.
    The Poetic Mirror, or the Living Bards of Britain. London, Longman &c., 1816.

    First Edition. 12mo, pp. [ii], iv, [i], [i], 275, text a little browned and stained throughout, in contemporary speckled calf, flat spine ruled in gilt, black morocco label lettered in gilt, with a contemporary ownership inscription of Robert Ritchie on the rather foxed front endpaper.

    A magnificent spoof volume of imitations of the contemporary poets by James Hogg. With an advertisement explaining his long-conceived project of obtaining one piece of… (more)

    A magnificent spoof volume of imitations of the contemporary poets by James Hogg. With an advertisement explaining his long-conceived project of obtaining one piece of work from ‘each of the principal living Bards of Britain’ and publishing them together. The author was refused permission to reprint other poets’ work and set to achieve the same ends by invention. Byron, Wordsworth, Scott, Southey, Coleridge and James Wilson are the poets parodied, plus one poem in Scottish dialect which Hogg credits to himself.

    View basket More details Price: £500.00
  • HOBLER, John Paul.
    The Words of the Favourite Pieces, as performed at the Glee Club, held at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, Strand. Compiled from their Library, by J. Paul Hobler. London, Symonds, 1794.

    First Edition. Small 8vo (155 x 95 mm), pp. [iv], 85, [6], in contemporary unlettered, freeform, tree calf, spine ruled in gilt, some wear.

    An important collection of lyrics for songs and rounds etc, as sung at England’s most notable glee club at the end of the eighteenth century.… (more)

    An important collection of lyrics for songs and rounds etc, as sung at England’s most notable glee club at the end of the eighteenth century. Included are songs by well-known musicians such as John Wall Callcott, Dr. Benjamin Cooke, Stephen Paxton and Samuel Webbe, including the latter’s ‘Glorious Apollo’ which became a traditional opening for glee club programmes. With an index.

    ESTC t110779.

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  • Telling Tales in Ethelinda’s Drawing Room: Lydia Tongue-Pad and Henrietta of Bellgrave
    The Lady's Drawing Room by PERCIVALL, Grace (1695-1763), possible attribution.
    PERCIVALL, Grace (1695-1763), possible attribution.
    The Lady's Drawing Room Being a Faithful Picture of the Great World. In which the various Humours of both Sexes are display'd. Drawn from the Life: and Interspers'd with entertaining and affecting Novels. The Second Edition. Revised and Corrected by the Author. London, Millar, 1748.

    Second Edition, 'Revised and Corrected by the Author'. 12mo (160 x 92 mm), pp. [ii], iv, 329, [1] advertiesements, in contemporary calf, heavily rubbed but sound, double fillet border to covers, spine with five raised bands, ruled in gilt.

    'There is no Place whatever, in which the Ladies have so much the Opportunity of shewing themselves to Advantage, as in their own Drawing Rooms'.… (more)

    'There is no Place whatever, in which the Ladies have so much the Opportunity of shewing themselves to Advantage, as in their own Drawing Rooms'. So begins this beguiling work which boasts the inclusion of love stories, adventure stories, imaginary voyages and eastern mystique, all narrated from the excellent Ethelinda's drawing room. 'An 'assembly' collection of brief amorous novels, imaginary voyages, and moral histories, told to each other by the daily visitors to the drawing room of the beautiful Ethelinda, who has banished cards and gossip in favour of the edifying art of storytelling' (Beasley). The work is divided into six 'days', each with an introduction, describing those present and setting the drawing room in the wider context of society (guests coming on from dinner; balls thrown for all the assembled company), the narration of a short story by one of the guests and a final open discussion of the issues raised in the story.
    The six novellas included are 'The History of Rodomond, and the Beautiful Indian' (pp. 13-42); 'The Fair Unfortunate, a true Secret History' (pp. 50-77); 'The True History of Henrietta de Bellgrave. A Woman born only for Calamities: a distres'd Virgin, unhappy Wife, and most afflicted Mother', Wrote by herself for the Use of her Daughter' (pp. 101-174); 'The Adventures of Marilla' (pp. 212-232); 'The Story of Berinthia' (pp. 238-254) & 'The History of Adrastus, Semanthe, and Apamia' (pp. 257-268); 'The History of Clyamon and Constantia, or the Force of Love and Jealousy' (pp. 289-328). In addition to the main short stories in each part there are numerous anecdotes, amusing incidents such as amorous verses accidentally falling out of pockets, a mock proposal to parliament for reforming taxes and many other such whimsical conversation pieces, making the cement with which these stories are held together every bit as interesting as the texts themselves. The third novella, 'The True History of Henrietta of Bellgrave', is an imaginary voyage to the East Indies first published in 1744; it was frequently reprinted as a chapbook in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
    The first edition was published in 1744 (ESTC t80582 Feb '03 lists BL, Cambridge, NLS, Glasgow, McMaster, Yale, Clark, Folger, Newberry, Minnesota & Harvard) and a Dublin edition appeared in 1746. It was reprinted under the title The Memoirs of Lydia Tongue-Pad in 1768 and later selections were published, particularly of 'The True History of Henrietta of Bellgrave' (see above) and continuations. A Russian translation, by Daniil Petrov, was published under the title Zhenskaia ubornaia komnata, Moskva 1781. More recently, it was published by Garland as part of the The Flowering of the Novel series, New York 1974. It has sometimes been attributed to Grace Percivall and E.W. Stackhouse but it is generally given as anonymous.

    ESTC t65815, at BL, Clark, Bancroft, Lilly, Newberry, Chicago and Illinois only.

    Gove p. 308; see Hardy 97.

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  • FLATMAN, Thomas, attributed (1637-1688).
    Heraclitus Ridens: or, a Discourse between Jest and Earnest; where many a True Word is pleasantly spoken, in Opposition to all Libellers against the Government. Vol I. [-II]. London, Benjamin Tooke, 1713.

    First Collected Edition. Two volumes, 12mo, pp. [ix], [i], extra title page and blank leaf inserted in preface, 264; [ii], 252, [15] index, in contemporary calf, rubbed, spines cracking, heads chipped, wanting labels, numbered in gilt on spines.

    First book edition of a popular humorous work originally published in eighty-two weekly numbers from February 1st 1681 to August 22nd 1682. A bestselling Restoration… (more)

    First book edition of a popular humorous work originally published in eighty-two weekly numbers from February 1st 1681 to August 22nd 1682. A bestselling Restoration periodical, it contains a series of jests, riddles and satirical dialogues on politics, government, Whigs, Popery, foreign affairs, the penny post and a multitude of ephemeral topics of the day. Persistently attributed to Thomas Flatman, though there are poems included that are not entirely consistent with his style; there may well have been some collaboration involved.

    ESTC t111102.

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  • SPELMAN, John (1594-1643).
    HEARNE, Thomas, editor (1678-1735).
    The Life of Aelfred the Great, by Sir John Spelman Kt. From the Original Manuscript in the Bodleian Library: with Considerable Additions, and Several Historical Remarks, by the Publisher Thomas Hearne, M.A. Oxford, at the Theatre for Maurice Atkins, 1709.

    First Edition. 8vo, (192 x 115mm), engraved portrait frontispiece and pp. [vi], 238, [8] index, [1] addenda and emendanda, in contemporary plain panelled calf, upper joint slightly cracked, plain spine wanting the label, early ownership inscription crossed out on front paste-down, some browning in text but generally a pretty good copy.

    An attractive copy in plain panelled calf of this important biography of King Alfred, first published here from the manuscript. Obadiah Walker had edited a… (more)

    An attractive copy in plain panelled calf of this important biography of King Alfred, first published here from the manuscript. Obadiah Walker had edited a Latin translation in 1678, but this edition, edited by Hearne, was taken from Spelman’s original at the Bodleian. It is Hearne’s own copious and scholarly notes that make this an important work. ‘Spelman’s Life of Alfred, a poor thing in itself, is memorable for its part in the Oxford-Cambridge controversy as to precedence... but it is memorable also as a testimony to the growth at Oxford of interest in the Old English language and our early chronicles’ (Carter).
    Much controversy surrounded the publication of this work and Hearne writes at some length in his diary (II 179 ff) about Arthur Charlett’s attempts to prevent him publishing this edition. Apparently he believed that only a University College man should be permitted to attempt it, that being the college that King Alfred was said to have founded. As for Hearne, he was at St. Edmund Hall.

    Carter, History of the OUP, pp. 112-113 and 457.

    ESTC t147373.

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  • DODINGTON, George Bubb, Baron of Melcombe Regis (1691-1762).
    WYNDHAM, Henry Penruddocke, editor (1736-1819).
    The Diary of the late George Bubb Dodington, Baron of Melcombe Regis: from March 8, 1748-9, to February 6, 1761. With an Appendix, containing some Curious and Interesting Papers; Which are either referred to, or alluded to, in the Diary. Now first published from his Lordship’s original manuscripts. By Henry Penruddocke Wyndham. Dublin, William Porter, 1784.

    First Dublin Edition. 12mo, xiv, 346, in contemporary calf, joints cracking at head of spine, red morocco label lettered in gilt, with the contemporary heraldic bookplate of John Wallis.

    Dodington left all his property to his cousin, Thomas Wyndham of Hammersmith, who in turn left it all to Henry Penruddocke Wyndham. In addition to… (more)

    Dodington left all his property to his cousin, Thomas Wyndham of Hammersmith, who in turn left it all to Henry Penruddocke Wyndham. In addition to the diary, it included a vast collection of Dodington’s private correspondence. Wyndham, a native of Compton Chamberlayne near Salisbury, also published a translation of the entries for Wiltshire in the Domesday Book, hoping that it might pave the way for a more general history of Wiltshire, for which he put up some money.

    ESTC t144754.

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  • imaginary first edition; imaginary advertisement - libel meets epistolary fiction
    LOCKHART, John Gibson (1794-1854).
    Peter’s Letters to his Kinsfolk. The Second Edition. Volume the First [-Third]. Edinburgh, Blackwood, 1819.

    First Edition. (though styled the second, as part of the satire). Three volumes, 8vo (217 x 128 mm), engraved portrait frontispiece to the first volume and pp. xv, [i], [v]-viii, 64, 61-333; viii, 363; ix, [i], 351, [1], [1] advertsisements, thirteen further engraved plates and one part-page illustration of a Glasgow steam-boat (III, 351), some offsetting and very occasional spotting, in contemporary russia, gilt and blind border to covers, spines gilt in compartments, lettered and numbered in gilt, marbled endpapers and edges, gilt dentelles, with the heraldic bookplate of Westport House (Co. Mayo) in each volume.

    An excellent copy of Lockhart’s controversial portrayal of Scottish society, an entirely fictional correspondence which targeted many of the leading figures of the day. Presented… (more)

    An excellent copy of Lockhart’s controversial portrayal of Scottish society, an entirely fictional correspondence which targeted many of the leading figures of the day. Presented as a series of letters from an imaginary Dr. Peter Morris - a portrait of whose dignified features stands as frontispiece to the first volume - to his kinsman in Wales, the Reverend David Williams, the work caused something of a scandal on publication. Among those who came in for Lockhart’s severest criticism were Leigh Hunt and William Hazlitt, who are condemned as ‘by far the vilest vermin that ever dared to creep upon the hem of the majestic garment of the English muse’.
    ‘In this work of epistolary fiction, Dr Peter Morris, a Welshman, travels to Scotland and connects with the important personages of the age. Penetrating and lively character sketches are the highlights of his letters to friends and relatives in Wales. As one of the most important chronicles of early nineteenth-century life in Scotland Peter's Letters can be seen as the 'biography of a culture' (Hart, 46, DNB)
    Alongside the fictitious author and recipient, the whole presentation of Lockhart’s work is jocular, with its ‘Epistle Liminary to the Second Edition’, in which the author specifies minute instructions for the publishing of this ‘second’ edition as a joint venture between Cadell and Davies and William Blackwood: ‘The First Edition being but a coarse job, and so small withal, I did not think of him’ and wishing to discuss Peter’s Letters from Italy and Germany with the publisher. Another little bibliographical joke is the final page of advertisements in the third volume, giving an imaginary list of ‘Works by the Same Author’.
    The text gives a detailed view of the Edinburgh of the day: the prominent men and women of the city, the clergy, the booksellers, the dandies; the courts, the coffee-rooms, the balls, dinner parties, dancing and social life; the university versus the English universities; the novels, the buildings, the ladies’ dress; the philosophers, the wits and the blue-stockings. ‘We can hardly be too grateful for so bold and skilful a picture of the social life of the age’ (J.H. Millar, A Literary History of Scotland, pp. 518-519). The writing capitalises on the intimacy of the letter form and no attempt is made to spare any of the dignitaries mentioned. Inevitably, Lockhart’s book caused more than its share of offence, ‘especially to the Whigs, by its personalities, and perhaps, as Scott said, by its truth’ (DNB).

    CBEL 2189.

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  • female education and bad parenting in a scarce sentimental novel
    Chit-Chat: Or Natural Characters; by COLLET, John, attributed.
    COLLET, John, attributed.
    Chit-Chat: Or Natural Characters; And the Manners of Real Life, represented in a Series of interesting Adventures. Dublin, Henry Saunders, 1755.

    First Dublin Edition. Two volumes in one, 12mo (170 x 100 mm), pp. [ii], 222, including a final page of advertisements, woodcut vignettes on title-pages, initials and head-pieces, bound in contemporary plain calf, a little worn at extremities, contemporary ownership inscription of Isabella Monck on the title-page, woodcut titles, initials and head-pieces.

    Charlotte Byersley is nineteen when the novel opens and has just lost her mother. She has been brought up quietly by her parents and although… (more)

    Charlotte Byersley is nineteen when the novel opens and has just lost her mother. She has been brought up quietly by her parents and although she has had a reasonable education, she knows little of the ways of hte world. Her father, anxious to supply her with a woman’s care, naturally chooses very badly and finds her a companion in the giddy and superficial Miss Arabella Seward, whose ‘outward behaviour was polish’d, specious and insincere’ and who had ‘no other aim but to secure a rich husband’. Shortly after Arabella’s arrival, Charlotte meets the son of her father’s friend, young Welford, recently down from Cambridge but the course of true love does not, of course, run smoothly. All is resolved in time, however, after a series of adventures involving them and many other characters. One unusual incident is that the heroine develops smallpox, is extremely ill with the disease but recovers fully except for the loss of her complexion. This she mourns greatly on her recovery as she assumes that with her lost looks, she has also lost all hopes of being loved by Welford. Abandoned in her illness by the worldly Arabella, Charlotte finds a new confidante and nurse in Mrs Bootle, who persuades her to believe that Welford ‘had too much good sense to place his affection meerly on a set of features, or fine complexion’ (p. 111).
    ‘To say the best of this performance, it contains nothing indecent or offensive to the chaste and modest ear; but, at the same time, it must be confessed, the reader of taste will here find nothing to excite and keep up his curiosity, engage his attention, or interest his heart. The author has involved about half a dozen couple of insipids, in certain uninteresting adventures and difficulities, out of which they are extricated at last; -- and all is conducted in the modern way, without energy, humour, or spirit’ (The Monthly Review, XII, April 1755, p. 388).
    Despite this review, this is an interesting novel which addresses issues of female education, parenting and the importance of female appearance. This is a scarce Dublin reprint which is designated as, and printed in, two ‘volumes’ and four parts, but with continuous pagination and register and bound in one volume. The first volume concludes on p. 107, ‘The End of the Second Book’, there is a separate title-page to ‘Vol. II’ and then the story continues with ‘Book the Third’ on p. 111. The novel concludes on p. 221 with ‘The End of the Fourth and Last Book’ and there is a final page of bookseller’s advertisements on p. 222. First published by Dodsley earlier in the same year (ESTC t70728, at BL, CUL, Bodleian, Duke, Huntington, Indiana, Chicago, Penn and Yale), this is often listed as anonymous but has been attributed to John Collet, an attribution followed by James Raven and based on that of the British Library copy.

    ESTC n44248, at BL, Newberry and Yale only.

    See Block p. 40; Raven 307.

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