BLAIR (Hugh):

Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres.

London: Printed for W. Strahan..., 1783. FIRST EDITION. 4to, pp. viii, 496; [iv], 550 [551 - 567 Index, 568 blank], recent half calf, gilt spines, black leather labels, marbled boards; lacks portrait, some stains on leather, bookplate removed from front paste-down end-paper of volume 1. The first review of Blair's admired and frequently-reprinted book came in the Monthly Review, in which the reviewer affirmed that Blair had exemplified a "happy and singular union of taste and philosophy [and had] supplied a great defect in the science of criticism...." It also made a "valuable addition to the polite literature" of the late 18th century.

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Book number: 6338

Catalogue: Rhetoric

Keywords: rhetoric prose Scottish Enlightenment

BLAIR (Hugh):

Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres.

London: Printed for W. Strahan..., 1783. FIRST EDITION. 4to,295 x 230 mms., pp. viii, 496; [iv], 550 [551 - 567 Index, 568 blank], engraved portrait of Blair as frontispiece in volume 1, entirely uncut, contemporary quarter calf, black morocco labels; marbled boards (very worn and faded); tear in C1 volume 2 repaired, but a decent copy with the contemporary autograph "Anderson Smk" on the title-page of volume 1, and on the front paste-down end-paper of volume 2 the early 19th century bookplate for S. Haward's Circulating Library, No. 4 Colonade, Cheltenham. The first review of Blair's admired and frequently-reprinted book came in the Monthly Review, in which the reviewer affirmed that Blair had exemplified a "happy and singular union of taste and philosophy [and had] supplied a great defect in the science of criticism...." It also made a "valuable addition to the polite literature" of the late 18th century. A long and thorough review in The Critical Review 1783 was not so complimentary and concluded that there "were many inaccuracies of style in these Lectures. The passages, which we have now cited, will be sufficient to justify this observation; and may serve in some respect to show, that the Eloquence of this country has not yet fixed her residence on the north side of the Tweed. Some of these improprieties may be thought too trivial to deserve the attention of a celebrated author, and others may probably be defended by analogy, or the example of preceding writers. But the greater part of them are real violations of grammar, or of that purity, propriety, and precision, which Dr. Blair himself has justly recommended."

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 7719

Catalogue: Rhetoric

Keywords: rhetoric prose Scottish Enlightenment

BLAIR (Hugh):

Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres.

Dublin: Printed for Messrs. Colles, Moncreiff, Gilbert, Walker, Exshaw, White and Byrne. 1789. 2 volumes. 8vo, 201 x 122 mms., pp. vi [vii - viii Contents], 384; [iv], 382 [383 - 408 Index], contemporary calf, spines ornately gilt in compartments with basket ornament, red and olive morcco labels; tops and bases of spines chipped, joints slightly cracked (but firm), slight worming to spine of volume 1, but a decent set with the armorial bookplate of John Vaughan Colby on the front paste-down end-paper, his autograph on the top margin of the second front free end-paper, with the late rAutogarph of James Phillips Lloyd on the top margin of each title-page, with some initials underneath. Blair's frequently-reprinted book was first published in 1783, and the first Dublin edition appeared in the same year. It was extensively and mostly favourably reviewed, but a long and thorough review in The Critical Review 1783 was not so complimentary and concluded that there "were many inaccuracies of style in these Lectures. The passages, which we have now cited, will be sufficient to justify this observation; and may serve in some respect to show, that the Eloquence of this country has not yet fixed her residence on the north side of the Tweed. Some of these improprieties may be thought too trivial to deserve the attention of a celebrated author, and others may probably be defended by analogy, or the example of preceding writers. But the greater part of them are real violations of grammar, or of that purity, propriety, and precision, which Dr. Blair himself has justly recommended."

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 8349

Catalogue: Rhetoric

Keywords: rhetoric literary criticism prose

CAMPBELL (George):

The Philosophy of Rhetoric.

London: Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell...and W. Creech at Edinburgh, 1776. FIRST EDITION. 2 volumes. 8vo, 203 x 123 mms., pp. xv [xvi blank], 511 [512 Errata]; vi [vii Errata, viii blank], 445 [446 blank, 447 - 448 adverts], including half-title in each volume, contemporary tree calf, gilt rules, red leather labels; bookplates removed from front paste-down end-papers, spines rubbed and darkened, but a good to very good set, with the ownership inscription "John Charles Jones/ Shrewesbury, !822" on the recto of the front free end-paper in each volume The importance of Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric was recognized immediately. Writing in The Monthly Review, October 1776, William Enfield claimed that Campbell had "discovered a clearness of discernment and accuracy of observation, which justly entitle him to be ranked among the most judicious critics." Adam Smith was also aware of its merits but was dubious about its popularity. He wrote to the publisher William Strahan, on 6 July 1776, that "There is good sense, and learning, and philosophy in Campbells Book. But it is so unfashioned that I am afraid you will not be a great gainer by it." In some sense, Smith was right: no second edition appeared in Campbell's lifetime. It was only five years after Campbell's death in 1796, and twenty-five years after the first edition, that a second edition appeared in 1801. Thereafter, some 40 editions were published in the 19th century and it was widely used as a textbook. In the 20th century, William Samuel Howell, in Eighteenth-Century British Logic and Rhetoric (1971), asserted that, "Campbell's Rhetoric must be called the leading British, and indeed the leading European, work on its subject to appear in the eighteenth century."

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Book number: 9982

Catalogue: Rhetoric

Keywords: rhetoric philosophy prose Scottish Enlightenment

COLONIA (Dominique de) and JUVENCIO (Josepho):

De Arte Rethorica [sic] Libri Quique Lectissimus veterum Auctorum Ætatis Aureæ, Perpetuisque Exemple illustrati; Societatis Jesu Presbytero. Accedunt etiam Institutiones Poeticæ. Auctore P. Josepho Juvencio Ex eadem Societate. Edition retractatior.

Patavii [Padua], Typies Seminarii, Apud Joannem Mentrè, Superiorum Permissu, 1768. 12mo, pp. 420, disbound but with old end-papers preserved. Dominique de Colonia (1660 - 1741) first published hsi work in 1722. The edition of the work by Jouvency (1643 - 1719) that I have found was published in 1699.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 4588

Catalogue: Rhetoric

Keywords: rhetoric aesthetics prose

ENFIELD (William):

The Preacher's Directory; Or, a Series of Subjects proper for Public Discourses, with Texts under Each Head: To which is added, a Supplement, containing Select Passages from the Apocrypha. The Second Edition.

London: Printed for Joseph Johnson..., 1782. 4to, pp. xvi, [3] - 169 [ 170 blank], ms. notes in pencil on front free end-papers, contemporary notes in ink on small leaf loosely inserted, original boards, falling to bits, with spine defective and gatherings as well as individual leaves loose, covers detached with paper missing from boards, edges a little fragile. William Enfield (1741-1797), the Unitarian minister, is doubtless best-known for The Speaker (1774), an anthology of extracts from classical and English literature designed for the improvement of rhetorical delivery in public speaking. The above work is a sort of do-it-yourself guide to making a sermon, with possible subjects digested into categories with recommended texts from the Bible annexed. The work was first published anonymously in 1771 and somewhat revised for this second edition.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 5468

Catalogue: Rhetoric

Keywords: rhetoric performing arts prose