[BARNARD (Edward)]:

Virtue the Source of Pleasure.

London: Printed by John Olive: Sold by J. Buckland...andJ. Ward..., 1757. FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. 8vo, pp. vii [viii blank], 319 [320 blank], including half-title, recent half calf, marbled boards, red morocco label. A very good copy. Mr. Barnard's title suggests a philosophical treatise, with Aristotle perhaps to the foreground. In fact, the text is mostly in verse, including two plays, The Somewhat and Edward VI in blank verse. Various sources do not give birth and death dates, only that he flourished c. 1741 - 1757. The headmaster and later provost of Eton, Edward Barnard (1717 - 1781) might seem to be a possible candidate for authorship. ODNB doesn't mention any publications by Barnard. The Prologue to Edward VI is preceded by "Disadvantages Relating to the following Entertainment," which clearly indicates that the play wasw written to be performed by "The Young." King Edward VI (1537 - 1553) effectively became King at the age of ten, when Henrv VIII died on 28 January 1547, and his short reign would certainly have supplied ample homiletic and pedagogic examples for Etonian schoolboys. ESTC T84940 locates copies in BL and Bodleian in the UK; Harvard (2), Huntington, Union Theological Seminary, UC Berkeley, Chicago and Texas (2) in the United States; and Alberta in Canada

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Book number: 9391

Catalogue: Verse

Keywords: verse morality literature

[BARRERA (A., Madame de)]:

Memoirs of Rachel.

London: Hurst and Blackett, Publishers, Successors to Henry Colburn..., 1858. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. 2 volumes. 8vo, 186 x 108 mms., pp. xii, 342; [ii], iv, 326, vi, collotype (probably) portrait of Rachel as frontispiece in volume 1, contemporary half calf, marbled boards, black morocco labels; some wear to binding, but a very good set, with the armorial bookplate of Thomas Lator Gregg on the front paste-down end-paper of each volume. Greg was a protestant chaplain in various Irish prisons in the 19th century. Purportedly a biography of the French actress Eliza Rachel Felix (1821 - 1858), the work seems to be heavily fictionalized. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Women notes, "One of the most famous Jews in nineteenth-century France, the actress Rachel was celebrated for her unparalleled talent and is often credited with reviving the classical French tragedies of Racine and Corneille in the era of Romanticism. Rachel was born on a roadside near the Swiss town of Mumpf on February 28, 1821. By the time she was twenty she achieved fame and fortune, becoming a sociétaire of the prestigious Comédie Française in Paris. Renowned as much for her unconventional personal life as she was for her brilliance onstage, Rachel was an unusual candidate for the kind of fame she achieved in a nation still staunchly Catholic, patriarchal and class-conscious. Throughout her life she remained faithful to her family and to Judaism, had numerous well-publicized love affairs, and gave birth to two children out of wedlock. In addition, Rachel was unusually adept at managing her career, successfully negotiating contracts that not only provided an impressively high salary but also gave her time off to conduct the foreign tours that made her an international star. Rachel's parents, Jacques and Thérèse-Esther-Chaya Félix, were itinerant Jewish peddlers who sold second-hand clothes from a wagon they used as both home and warehouse. Their first child, Sophie-Sarah, was born in 1819; Elisa-Rachel was born two years later when the family wagon was in Switzerland, then known as somewhat risky territory for Jewish peddlers who were legally barred from residing or establishing businesses in the country. Four other siblings were born later: Raphaël in 1826, Rébecca in 1828; Adelaïde-Lia in 1830; and Mélanie-Dinah in 1836. From an early age the siblings displayed unusual talent as street performers. At ages ten and eight Sarah sang and Rachel accompanied her on a battered guitar (which she later, as an adult star, kept proudly on display) on the streets of Lyons, where they were "discovered" by the Parisian musician and educator Etienne Choron (1772–1834). In 1831 the family settled in the Jewish neighborhood in Paris's Marais district, where the two girls attended Choron's school and were trained in acting and music. In 1836 Rachel went to work at the Théâtre Molière, where she received additional training, and in the fall of the same year she was admitted to the prestigious Conservatoire. She soon left the Conservatoire for higher-paying work at the Théâtre de la Gymnase, and in 1837 she began private study with Joseph-Isidore Samson (1793–1871). Samson was to become as crucial a force in her professional life as her father Jacques was—the two men were often portrayed by contemporary observers as rival tyrants, competing for control over Rachel's illustrious career. In 1838 she signed a contract as a pensionnaire at the most prestigious institution of the French stage, the Comédie Française, the official state theater where Samson himself was an actor. Rachel's debut at the Comédie Française in June 1838 was in the role of Camille in Horace by Pierre Corneille (1606–1684). This performance, like most of those that followed, met with critical acclaim and public admiration. She brilliantly reproduced the traditional inflections, rhymes and gestures of the classical repertoire and was described as elevating her roles to a new level of art. Faithful to the constraints imposed by the classical style, she spoke and moved in her roles in a remarkably natural fashion, exuding a passion that no critic failed to mention in reviewing her performances. Known for her slight build and burning eyes, Rachel's passion and technique made her seem larger than life and her riveting authority on stage (as well as off-stage) was often described as "masculine." In addition to Camille, Rachel's roles in the 1840s included Hermione in Jean Racine's (1639–1699?) Andromaque, Amédaïde in Voltaire's Tancrède, Eriphile in Racine's Iphigénie en Aulide, the title role in Racine's Esther, Roxane in Racine's Bajazet, and Pauline— a Jew who converts to Christianity—in Corneille's Polyeucte. She first played what was perhaps her most famous role, Phèdre, in Racine's play of the same name, in 1843. She also performed key roles in historical plays in the 1840s, including Joan of Arc and Mary Stuart. Only in the 1850s did she begin to perform in contemporary dramas on a regular basis, including roles in plays written for her by her friend Madame de Girardin (1804–1855, née Delphine Gay). Her most successful role of this sort was in Adrienne Lecouvreur by Eugène Scribe (1791–1861). Although her audiences never overlooked her Jewishness, remarkably, Rachel was also seen as a symbol of the French nation. Her choice of roles made this identification possible; in addition to playing Joan of Arc in the mid-1840s, she also performed the Marseillaise to great acclaim in 1848. Dressed in a simple, all-white costume, carrying the flag, her eyes blazing with passion, she seemed to many admirers to embody the very will of the people in that short-lived era of republican optimism. Yet like her erstwhile lover and longtime friend Louis Napoleon (1808–1873, who became Emperor Napoleon III in 1852), she had no regrets when the Second Republic gave way to the Second Empire. When Prince-President Louis Napoleon brought the French state theater under much stricter control in 1849, Rachel benefited greatly. She had a strong voice in selecting the new theater director, Arsène Houssaye (1815–1896), and negotiated a new contract with him in which she was required to perform only forty-eight times a year. This reduction in her duties made it possible for her to embark on long, profitable tours abroad. She had been performing abroad for years already—from 1843 she made annual trips to Great Britain—but in the 1850s these lucrative tours became much longer and the destinations more distant. In 1853 she performed in Moscow and in 1855 she embarked on a tour of America, arranged by her brother Raphaël, who was then working as her manager. Like many stars, Rachel was famous for her private life as well as for her professional achievements. She always remained close to her family, and involved them in her career—her brother and her father each worked as her manager at different times, and she supported the acting careers of her sisters. She was also faithful to her origins. She resisted the many attempts to convert her to Christianity and spoke proudly of her family's humble background. Never married, she had love affairs with some of the most important men in mid-nineteenth-century France. They included the Prince de Joinville (1818–1900, son of King Louis-Philippe), Count Alexandre-Colonne Walewski (1810–?, illegitimate son of Napoleon I by the Polish countess Marie Walewska), future emperor Louis Napoleon, his cousin Prince Napoleon (1822–1891), the poet Alfred de Musset (1810–1857), and the journalist Emile de Girardin (1802–1881). She bore two illegitimate children and, though faithful to Judaism herself, had them both baptized. Her son Alexandre-Antoine-Colonne Walewski (1844–1898) was recognized by the father whose name he carried and had a brilliant career as a diplomat. Gabriel-Victor Félix (1848–1889), Rachel's son by the general Arthur Bertrand (1811–1878), served in the navy and died in Brazzaville, Congo, where he was serving as French consul. Rachel died on January 4, 1858 of tuberculosis, of which she had shown symptoms as early as 1841. Her funeral, like her life, was a public spectacle that attracted the widest spectrum imaginable of Parisian society, including poor Jews from the Marais district, famous journalists, actors, military leaders and the Emperor himself. Appropriately, the Chief Rabbi of France, Lazard Isidor (1813–1888), recited the funeral prayers."

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Book number: 9491

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: Biography women prose

BARTHOLOMEUS DE PISIS. BUCCHIO (Geremia):

 Liber Aureus Inscriptus Liber Conformitatum Vitae Beati, ac seraphici patris Francisci ad vitam Iesu Christi Domini nostri. Nunc denuo in lucem editus, atq: infinitis propemodum mendis correctus a Reverendo, ac doctissimo P. F. Jeremia Bucchio Utinensi sodali Franciscano Doctore Theologolaboriosis, ornatissimisq; lucubrationibus illustratus. Cui plane addita est perbrevis, & facilis historia omnium vivorum; qui samcotate, probitate, innocentia vitae, ac doctrina, eccleiasticisq; dignitatibus, in Franciscana Religion usq; ad nostra a haec tempora a excellurerunt. Accessit duplex rerum, & verboum, ac materierum toto operamemorabilium Index lucuple tissimus. Ad Illustris. atq; Amplissimum Sanctae Rom. Ecclesiae Cardinaem D. D. Hieronymum de Ruvere Ord. min Conventualium Protectorem vigilatissimum.

Bonoiae, Apud Alexandrum Benatium. Facultate a Suepeioribus concessa. 1590. FIRST EDITION. Folio, 295 x 208 mms., pp [xviii], [660], 330 numbered leaves, engraved title-page, with engraved vignette, printed in double columns, woodcut vignettes at start of each book, contemporary annotation on lower margin of title-page contemporary sheepskin, a monastery binding, with ownership stamps on title-page, and ownership inscripiton on recto of front free end-paper, printer's colophon on verso of last leaf, spine gilt in compartments (but worn), with what looks like an early repair; lower front joint cracked. A well-used copy but still in good condition; ex-library. "This treatise describes the many ways in which the saintly conduct of St. Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) conformed to the life and teachings of Christ. The original manuscript of this work, presented to the Franciscan Order by the Franciscan friar Bartholomeus de Pisis in 1399, featured a full-page drawing of Christ crucified on the allegorical 'Tree of Conformity'.... In 1542 the Lutheran scholar Erasmus Albertus (ca. 1500–1543) intentionally misread the book's representation of St. Francis as a saintly reflection of Christ in order to ridicule the Franciscan Order for believing that St. Francis was the equal of Christ. For Catholic scholars, however, the book long remained a highly regarded compendium of Franciscan principles" (Perkins School of Theology). NiritBen-Aryeh Debby: The Cult of St Clare of Assisi in Early Modern Italy (2017).

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Book number: 8907

Catalogue: Christianity

Keywords: Christianity biography prose

BARTOLI (Pietro Santi):

Le Antiche Lucerne Sepolcrali Figurate Raccolte dalle Cave sotterranee, e Grotte di Roma, nelle quli si contengono molte erudite Memorie. Disegnate, ed intagliate nelle loro orme da Pietro Sanit Bartoli E che ora sona tra le Stampe di Domenico de Rossi Erede di Gio. Giacomo de Rossi a S. Maria della Pace, con Privilegio del Sommon Pontefice. Divise in tre Parti con l'Osservazioni di Gio Pietro Bellori.

In Roma [Nella stampa di D. de Rossi], 1704. Folio, 325 x 217 mms., pp. [iv], 16, 15 [16 blank], 12, engraved title, 116 plates, with engraved title-page for each part, contemporary vellum, olive morocco label; front hinge cracked, few worm holes in spine, top and base of spine slightly defective, with an 1829 Bologna inscription (name resisting transcription) on the top margin of the title-page. The Italian engraver Pietro Santi Bartoli (1635 - 1700) trained as a painter, but turned his attention to engraving and was an engraver for most of his life. The volume contains splendid and intricate engravings of the sepulchral lamps in the underground caves of Rome, as well as information about various rites connected with the lamps. This was one of the last works that the painter and biographer Giovanni Pietro Bellori (1613 - 1696) published, and his rather short commentaries on each of the engravings don't seem to do them justice. Bartoli's work was first published in Rome, with a second edition published in Berlin in 1702.

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Book number: 7885

Catalogue: Engraving

Keywords: engraving art history prose

BATCHELLER (William):

The New Dover Guide, including a concise sketch of the Ancient and Modern History of The Town and Castle, and such other general information as may be useful to visitors; and a short description of The Neighbouring Villages. The Third Editionk Embellished with Twenty Illustrations, Engaved by Bonner.

Dover: Printed and Published by W. Batcheller..., 1836. 12mo, 180 x 101 mms., pp. 154, including adverts, 20 steel-engraved vignettes, original cloth, tkitle in gilt on frotn cover; spine and joints a bit worn, but a good copy The Batcheller family figured prominently in the history of Dover. The author here, William Batcheller worked as an apprentice is the family printing and publishing business.

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Book number: 9688

BATE (George):

Ristretto Delli Moti Moderni d'Inghilterra, Con vn breue Racconto Delle Ragioni del Rè, e del Parlamento. Tradotto dal Latino in Italiano dal Dottor Gio: Batt: Birago Auogadro Cutadin Venetiano. All'Illustriss. & Eccellentiss. Sig. Giovanni Pesaro, Caualier e Procurator di S. Marco.

In Venetia, Presso il Turrini, 1652. 12mo, 139 x 68 mms., pp. 221 [222 - 227 adverts, 228 blank], engraved Turrini vignette of a tower on its summit, with an angel playing a trumpet, out of which comes a scroll with the motto, "Deus et Fortitudo turis sic mea," contained within a frame, on title-page, contemporary vellum; some slight browning of text in first few leaves, with occasional stain, but a very good copy. The "Lettore" preceding the title-page is signed "Teodoro Veridico," the pseudonym that George Bate (1608 - 1668), the apologist for Charles I and later physician to Oliver Cromwell. The work, or at least the first part, appeared in Paris (but printed in London by William Dugard) in 1649 in Latin, Elenchus motuum nuperorum in Anglia. The English version, A Compendious Narrative of the Late Troubles in England, was published in London in 1652. This Italian translation from the Latin original is dedicated to Giovanni Pesaro (1589 - 1658), the 103rd Doge of Venice. The work was also published in Bologna the same year, with a different vignette on the title-page. F. F. Madan, in his "A Bibliography of George Bate's Elenchus Motuum Nuperorum in Anglia" (The Library [1951], no. 9) records the above imprint but not the one for Bologna, which would appear to be the sheets of the Turrini Press, with a cancel title-page. This Italian translation from the Turrini press, is uncommon, with OCLC locating only two copies, Bibliotheque Nationale de France and Newberry Library

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Book number: 6951

Catalogue: History

Keywords: history revolution prose

BATTISTA (Giuseppe):

Delle Poesi Meliche di Giuseppe Battista. Parte Prima [Quarta[. All'Ilustriss & Eccelentiss. Sig. Francesco Mario Caracciolo, Principe d'Auellino, gran Cancelliere, e Capitan generale della Cacualleria Napoletana nelo Stato di Milano. Quarta Impressione.

In Venetia, Presso Abbondio Menafogiio, Et Valentino Mortal. M.DC.LVI. 1666. 4 volumes i 1. 12mo, 132 x 70 mms., pp. [xxxii], 197 n[198 - 204 contents]; 150 [151 -154 contents]; [xvi, 161 [162 - 164 contents]; [xii], 308, with title-pages for parts 2, 3, and 4 dated 1665, fine engraved general frontispiece for the four parts, bound in contemporary vellum (somewhat soiled), ink title on spine. A very good copy. * The Itlalian poet Giuseppe Battista (1610 - 1665) is described as a marinist poet; and Wikipedia tells me that "marinism" is "Marinism (Italian: marinismo, or secentismo, "17th century") is the name now given to an ornate, witty style of poetry and verse drama written in imitation of Giambattista Marino (1569–1625), following in particular La Lira and L'Adone." His poetry is said to have enjoyed great popularity in its day, and there were several reprints of these particular volumes. His baroque, epigrammatic verse has clear overtones of deliberate novelty for novelty's sake.

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Book number: 10202

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: poetry baroque literature

[BAUDEAU (Nicolas), Abbe] and Abbe MORELLET, inter alia:

Encyclopedie Méthodique. Commerce.

A Paris, Chez Pankoucke..., a Liège, Chez Plomteux..., 1783, 1784. FIRST EDITION. 3 volumes. 4to, pp. xxx [xxxi - xxxii Privilege General], 766; [iv], 798; [iv], 831 [832 blank], xvi, four folding tables in volume 2, contemporary mottled calf, spine ornately gilt in compartments, red and green morocco labels, marbled end-papers; corners worn, upper and lower front joint volume 3 slightly cracked, tops and bases of spines chipped; ex-library with library stamps in blind on initial leaves, and library pocket on rear paste-down end-paper of each volume. This is part of a much larger work issued over a number of years, with the general title Encyclopedié Méthodique. Other volumes were devoted to music, ancient and modern philosophy, mathematics, grammar and literature, jurisprudence, etc. The editors acknowledge their indebtedness to d'Alembert and Diderot, editors of the great Encyclopedié. Although the Encyclopedié Méthodique aimed at and copied the general comprehensiveness of the Encyclopedié, it was organized in self-contained units, so that purchasers who did not wish to have the complete work could acquire only those sections which were of use to them. Goldsmiths 12380, Kress B.574.

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Book number: 4828

Catalogue: Commerce

Keywords: commerce economics prose French

[BAXTER (Andrew)]:

Matho: Or, The Cosmotheoria Puerilis, A Dialogue. In which The first Principles of Philosophy and Astronomy are accommodated to the Capacity of young Persons, or such as have yet no Tincture of these Sciences. Hence the Princilples of Natural Religion are deduced. Translated, and enlarged by the Author. Second Edition.

London: Printed for A. Millar..., 1740. 2 volumes. 8vo, 190 x 113 mms., pp. [xii], 400; [viii], 362 [363 - 392], bound in 19th century diced morocco, gilt borders on spine, later reback with gilt spines, black morocco labels; upper margins in volume 1 water-stained, small repair to upper margin of title-page of volume 1, some browning of text, with the later bookplate olf Frank P. Hadley on the front paste-down end-paper of each volume; an indifferent set. Baxter first published a work under this title in a small quarto of 64 pages Edinburgh in 1738. This "translation" is more of a new work than a strict translation. He revised and enlarged the Latin version for a new edition in 1746 and published a second edition of the above work in 1745, and further editions followed in 1754 and 1765. Baxter was born in Aberdeen and educated at King's College, Aberdeen; he lived much of his life in Whittingham, near Edinburgh, but, as Sir Leslie Stephen remarked in Baxter's DNB entry, he seems not to have been aware of the work of David Hume. For that matter, Hume also seems not to have referred either in his published writings or his correspondence to Baxter's work, but Francis Hutcheson did, citing Baxter in his System of Moral Philosophy (1755; I, 200). The ten dialogues occur between Matho "A Boy of a fine Genius" and Philon; Matho's putative age would appear to be about twelve, but the discussion is sophisticated and demanding. Baxter was one of the earliest critics of George Berkeley, opposing, in the second volume, Berkeley's immaterialism and arguing instead that the existence of matter is crucial to theism.

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Book number: 10371

Catalogue: Philosophy

Keywords: Philosophy prose Scottish Enlightenment

BAYLDON (J. S.):

The Art of Valuing Rents and Tillages; wherein is explained, The Manner of Valuing The Tenant's Right on Entering and Quitting Farms, in Yorkshire and the Adjoining Counties. The Whole is adapted for the Use of Landlords, Land Agents, Appraisers, Farmeres and Tenants.

London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown..., 1823. FIRST EDITION. Tall 8vo, 224 x 138 mms., pp. [vi], 187 [188 colophon, 189 - 192 adverts, including half-title, engrave frontispiece (foxed), fore-edge and lower edge uncut, original boards, paper label on spine; joints slightly cracked, spine chipped at top and base, but a good copy with the autograph "Charles Armstrong" on the top marginof the half-title. A review in The Farmer's Magazine for 1824 begins, "The subject of this work must be, in a great measure, new to the landlords and farmers of Scotland; and even in England, as the author assures us, scarcely any publications of a similar nature have yet appeared. But its novelty is not the only claim that it has on the attention of these classes. The author is evidently a man of experience in his profession, and apparently moderate and impartial in his views of the numerous questions that arise between the owner and occupier. and between outgoing and entering tenants...." After a number of pages in which the work is judiciously appraised, the reviewer concludes, "When this book comes to a second edition, as we have no doubt must be soon the case, we would recommend to the author to improve it in point of arrangement...and to avoid...all local and technical expressions.... We would suggest, too, that it will add much to its value, to state the custom in other parts of England as well as in Yorkshire...." In fact the book was frequently reprinted after 1823. A much shorter review in 1823 in The Monthly Review, having affirmed the value of the work, concludes, "So far as we can judge about these matters, we think Mr. Bayldon has laid down some rules for the government of the incoming and out-going tenant, as well as that for the landlord, which will be extremely serviceable to all three."

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Book number: 9696

Catalogue: Agronomy

Keywords: agronomy rent prose

BEALE (Willert) [Walter Maynard]:

The Light of Other Days Seen through the wrong end of an opera glass.

London, Richard Bentley and Son..., 1890 FIRST EDITION. 2 volumes. 8vo, 220 x 135 MMus., pp. [vi], 368; [vi], 364, portrait frontispiece in volume 1, original cloth; portrait and title-page volume 1 a little foxed, title-page volume 1 partially detached at inner margin, paper ownership (J. Hugged) labels on each front cover, bindings a little shaken in casing. Thomas Willert Beale (1828 - 1894), composer and music impresario, often wrote under the pseudonym of Walter Maynard, and supported himself by organising performances of opera in the provinces. This autobiography is full of anecdotes and valuable historical information about English musical life from 1840 to 1890, particularly the performances and personalities of various Italian opera singers

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Book number: 6894

Catalogue: Music

Keywords: music autobiography prose

BEATTIE (James):

An Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth, in opposition to Sophistry and Scepticism. The Sixth Edition.

Edinburgh: Printed for Denham & Dick, by Thomas Turnbull, Canongate. 1805 12mo, 177 x 100 mms., pp. [7] 8 - 341 [342 blank], with engraved portrait of Beattie as frontispiece and name in ink of "Helen Clark" on title-page slightly off-setting on frontispiece not affecting image, contemporary calf, gilt rules across spine, red leather label. A very good to fine copy. The three essays on literary theory were welcomed by contemporary philosophers, aestheticians, and reviewers. William Cowper found Beattie's literary theorizing "the most agreeable and amiable" that he had encountered, while the Scottish critic David Irving asserted in 1804 that Beattie "displays a more elegant vein of criticism than any of his predecessors." Three years later, Walter Scott, writing in The Edinburgh Review praised Beattie as "the most pleasing and ingenious writer on the Belles Lettres of his day." A rare edition of the Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth: Library Hub (COPAC) finds no copies in England of this edition from 1805. The five copies that Library Hub does locate are all in Scotland but for one in Wales: University of Aberdeen, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, the National Library of Scotland, and the National Library of Wales.

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Book number: 10165

Catalogue: Scepticism

Keywords: scepticism truth philosophy prose

BEATTIE (James):

The Minstrel; or the Progress of Genius: In Two Parts. With Some Other Poems. With Designs by Mr. Thurston: and Engraved on Wood by Mr. Clennell.

Alnwick: Printed by Catnach and Davison. Sold by the Booksellers in England and Scotland. 1807. 12mo, 170 x 109 mms., pp. [11] 12 - 140 [141 - 142 notes], including half-title, 6 woodcut plates by Thurston after Clennel, woodcut vignette tail-pieces, uncut, original boards (very soiled and ink-stained, green paper spine (worn). This is one of many numerous illustrated editions of Beattie's The Minstrel, and John Thurston (1774 - 1822) enjoyed an enviable reputation as a draughtsman who provided images for a number of books; the engraver, Luke Clennell was also a fine draughtsman, who learned his trade as draughtsman and engraved while apprenticed to Thomas Bewick (1753–1828), to whom he was indentured for seven years on his sixteenth birthday, 8 April 1797.

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Book number: 8785

BEATTIE (James):

Poems on Several Subjects. A New Edition, Corrected.

London: Printed for W. Johnston, 1766. Small 8vo, 153 x 93 mms., pp. [viii], 166, contemporary sheepskin, later reback, red morocco label; a good to very good copy with the armorial bookplate of S. Nichol on the front paste-down end-paper, and his autograph on the top margin of the recto of the front free end-paper, and, in a different hand "given to [?Terry]/ Henry Morgan/ Sept. 1832." Beattie (1735 - 1803) published his first volume of poems in 1760, and several of the poems printed there are not reprinted here. Two new poems appear here: "Epistle to Mr. Blacklock," and "The Battle of the Pygmies and Cranes." Two items reprinted here appeared earlier in 1765, "The Judgment of Paris," and Beattie's vicious attack on Charles Churchill, "On the report of a Monument to be erected in Westminster-Abbbey, to the Memory of a Late Author." Beattie describes Churchill as being noted "For ribaldry, for libels, lewdness, lies, For blasphemy of all the Good and Wise"; and these are some of the milder epithets. ESTC locates nine copies in British and Continental libraries, and Boston Athanaeum, Columbia, Illinois, Minnesota, Yale, and Toronto in North America.

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Book number: 8239

Catalogue: Poems

Keywords: poems Scotland literature Scottish Enlightenment

BEATTIE (James). CHALMERS (Alexander), editor:

[Poems] The Minstrel; Or, The Progress of Genius: with Other Poems, Many of which, including the translations, are now reprinted from the scarce copies, and are not to be found in any other edition. To which are prefixed Memoirs of the Life of the Author, by Alexander Chalmers, F. S. A.

London: Printed for F. C. and J. Rivington..., 1811. 12mo, 157 x 95 mms., pp. [ii], xxxiv, [6], 216, engraved portrait of Beattie (offsetting onto title-page), 3 other engraved plates. UNIFORMLY BOUND WITH: The Minstrel: In Two Books With Some Other Poems. By James Beattie, D. D. To which are now added, Miscellanies by James Hay Beattie. With an Account of his Life and Character. In Two Volumes. Volume II. London: Printed by J. McCreery...For J. Johnson..., 1807. 2 volumes. Contemporary half red sheepskin, grey boards, gilt spines (a bit rubbed). A good, but probably made-up set, with the armorial bookplate of W. D. Sneyd and his autograph and date - "William Debank Sneyd/ g. 21st 1817" - on the free end-papers of each volume. Chalmers' assertion that some of the works are printed from "scarce copies" is correct, especially in the case of Beattie's translation of Virgil. His son, James Hay Beattie (1768 - 1790) was cogently memorialized by his father in the account of his life that opens the second volume.

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Book number: 9184

Catalogue: Poetry

Keywords: poetry biography Scottish Enlightenment