GIBBON (Edward). YOUNG (G. M.):

Gibbon.

London: Peter Davis, 1932. FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. 182, frontispiece, original cloth; tear in blank rear end-paper, cloth a little faded and very slightly worn.

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Book number: 5328

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography scholarship prose

GIBBON (Edward). MILMAN (H. H.):

The Life of Edward Gibbon, Esq. With Selections from his Correspondence, and Illustrations.

London: John Murray..., 1839. 8vo, pp. xvi, 455 [456 printer's imprint], portrait of Gibbon as frontispiece, contemporary marbled boards, new linen spines with old morocco label laid down; ex-library. This is a reprint of the version in the second edition of Miscellaneous Works, with some letters and additional notes by Milman. Norton 141.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 5281

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography History prose

GIBBON (Edward). MILMAN (Rev. H. H.):

The Life of Edward Gibbon, Esq. With Selections from his Correspondence.

London: John Murray…, 1839. FIRST EDITION. Large 8vo, pp. xvi, 455 [456 blank], 12 pp. adverts, portrait frontispiece, embossed cloth; spine faded, front joint slightly worn.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 5320

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography prose

GIBBON (Edward):

The Memoirs of the Life of Edward Gibbon. With Various Observations and Excursions by Himself. Edited by George Birkbeck Hill.

London: Methuen & Co., 1900. FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. xxix [xxx blank], 360, 47 pages adverts, 48 blank, original cloth.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 5315

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography scandal prose

GIOVIO (Paolo):

Le vite dei dodeci Visconti che signoreggiarono Milano Descritte da Monsignor Paolo Giovio Vescovo di Nocera tradotte da Lodovico Domenichi. Et in quest' ultima Impressione accresciute de gl' Argomenti à caiscuna d'esse Vite, con le annotationi nel margine, & Tauola copiosissima. Abbellite delle ver Effigie d'essi Principi, dedicate all'illustmo. et revermo Monsigr. Honorato Visconti Arcivescovo di Larissa.

In Milano In Casa di Gio. Battista Bidelli..., 1645. 4to, 265 x 210 mms., pp. [xx], 132, with engraved title-page, engraved portrait of dedicatee, and 12 full-page engraved portraits of Milanese viscounts, engraved by Paolo Bianchi, contemporary limp vellum (a little soiled); inner margins of front and rear end-papers at little wormed with some very slight water-staining, none of which affects the text or the engravings, a very good copy, with the 19th century book ticket of Conte Gropello di Alessandria on the front paste-down end-paper. Although Giovio (1483 - 1552) took a degree in medicine, he was primarily interested in a literary career, in which he was notably successful, so much so that Leo X gave him the rank of Cavaliere, with a pension. Paolo Giovio, Bishop of Nocera, had one of the most celebrated collections of Italian portraits. In a letter dated 1521, he expressed his intention to put together some real portraits of men of letters, whose eyes would stimulate men to virtue. Giovio had in mind adding portraits of artists, popes and princes, and in 1537 built a museum to house the paintings in Como. Giovio convinced famous men to send him their pictures with the promise that, in his museum, they would have been immortalized for posterity. The present work was published first at Paris in 1549, Vita XII Vicecomitum Mediolani Principum, and Domenichi's is the first Italian translation, notable for Bianchi's exceptionally fine engraved portraits. Brunet III, 584.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 6622

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography engraving prose

GOLDSMITH (Oliver):

The Life of Richard Nash, of Bath, Esq; Extracted from His Original Papers.

London: Printed for J. Newbery..., and W. Frederick..., 1762. FIRST EDITION. 8vo, 190 x 113 mms., pp. [ii], 234 [235 - 238 adverts], C6 in cancelled state, recently rebound in quarter calf, red morocco lable, marbled boards, gilt rules across spine; an attractive copy, but lacking the portrait. "Much has been written on Goldsmith's Life, partly in terms of its historical accuracy, but more particularly in an attempt to determine its dominant tone. For some Goldsmith's criticism prevails. And yet, notwithstanding the biography's reservations regarding Nash's character, it seems reasonable to see the Life as generally appreciative of an ambiguous subject who, as Goldsmith realized, was flawed because of his humanity in a town given to temptation, and was rendered complex by the matter-of-fact approach taken by his biographer: as he explained in the preface, 'I chose to describe the man as he was' (Goldsmith, 3.289). Thus Goldsmith's account ultimately develops themes identified in more ostentatious commemorations by William Oliver and William King: Nash as innovative reformer of social conduct and as benefactor, even a man of feeling—'None felt pity more strongly, and none made greater efforts to relieve distress' (ibid., 3.333). But as an early celebrity biographer, Goldsmith also appreciated the dangers of such exposure. Consequently the lasting theme of this, still the most valuable account of Nash's personality, is sympathy for a subject who sacrificed happiness, integrity, and independence for immediate fame and popularity within a community of which he was equally master and servant" (ODNB).

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Book number: 8039

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography manners prose literature

GRAHAM (Henry Grey):

Scottish Men of Letters in the Eighteenth Century.

London: Adam and Charles Black, 1908. Large 8vo, pp. xii, 441 [442 blank, 443 - 444 adverts], 32 portraits, original cloth. A good copy.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 3744

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography philosophy prose Scottish Enlightenment

GRAY (Thomas). MASON (William), editor:

The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W. Mason, M. A.

York: Printed by A. Ward; and sold by J. Dodsley..., London..., 1775. FIRST COLLECTED COMPLETE EDITION. 4to, 266 x 205 mms., pp. [iv], 416, 111 [112 Contents, 113 Errata, 114 - 116 blank], engraved portrait (by James Basire after B. Wilson, contemporary diced calf, gilt spine, black leather label; lower portion of boards damp-stained, affecting lower corner of first five leads, joints cracked, corners worn. A serviceable copy, with the contemporary armorial bookplate of Charles Legh Hoskins Master on the front paste-down end-paper and an appreciative note on the verso of the front free marbled end-paper, but probably in a later hand and not that of Hoskins Master. In his last years, Gray (1716 - 1771) was Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, though he never gave an inaugural lecture. One of his last compositions, published in 1769, was an ode performed at the installation of His Grace Augustus-Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton, Chancellor of the University; this was set to music by the Professor of Music, Dr. John Randal, and included here in the poems, which comprise the shorter part of the volume. Mason included in the volume poems that Gray had not intended to print. Mason composed the memoirs by quoting from selected letters, linked by some narrative, a form of biography that he seems to have inaugurated, or at least made popular.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 7103

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography poetry literature

GRESWELL (William Parr), translator:

Memoirs of Angelus Politianus, Actius Sincerus Sannazarius, Petrus Bembus, Hieronymus Fracastorius, Marcus Antonius Flaminius, and the Amalthei: Translations from their Poetical Works; and Notes & Observations concerning other literary characters of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Manchester,, Printed by R. & W. Dean & Co. for Cadell and Davies..., 1801. 8vo, 202 x 120 mms., pp. [ii], ii, 211 [212 Errata], fine contemporary polished calf, gilt borders on covers, spine ornately gilt in compartments; upper rear front joint cracked, lacks label, but a very good copy, from the Spetchley Park sale. The book collector, bibliographer, Church of England clergyman William Parr Greswell (bap. 1765, d. 1854) rather remarkably educated his seven sons at home, and five went on to Oxford University and had distinguished careers. The Monthly Review for 1801 was impressed with the work: "The personages, of whom the author now before us has given biographical sketches, are interesting to all lovers of sound learning and classical taste....[H]e has contrived to make it both interesting and instructive, to whose who may not be previously acquainted with the state of letters in which Politan flourished. The narrative concerning this diligent, profound, and elegant critic is, indeed, rendered sufficiently captivating of readers of taste and curiosity.... As, however, we cannot dwell longer on this agreeable and amusing work, having already bestowed on it more attention that we can always afford in analysing so small a volume, we shall conclude our account with recommending it to those lovers of literature, who are curious in exploring every vestige of the productions which contributed to illustrate the happy era of the Medicean family." He work did not fare well with a later reviewer in the Retrospective Review in 1824 who condemned it as careless and unmethodical.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 9973

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: Biography literary history literature

GROTIUS (Hugo). BURIGNY M. de (Jean Lévesque):

The Life Of the truly Eminent and Learned Hugo Grotius. Containing A Copious and Circumstantial History of the several Important and Honourable Negotiations In which he was employed; Together with a Critical Account of his Works. Written originally in French. By M. de Burigny

London, Printed for A. Millar n the Strand; J. Whiston and B. White, at Mr. Boyle's Head; and L. Davis, at Lord Bacon's Head, both in Fleet-Street, 1754. FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. 8vo, 198 x 120, pp. [xxiv], 368 [369 - 387 Index 388 Errata], contemporary calf, lightly gilt rules on covers, no label; top and base of spine very slightly chipped, front joint very slightly cracked.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 10234

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: Biography History

HAGGARD (Lieutenant-Colonel) Andrew C. P.

The Amours of Henri de Navarre and of Marguerite de Valois. With Photogravure Frontispiece and Numerous Illustrations.

New York: Brentano's, 1910. Large 8vo, pp. 438, including half-title, frontispiece, 16 illustrations in text, 4 illustrations preceding title-page, including an 18th century engraving of Marguerite de Valois tipped-in on the recto of the frontispiece, original cloth, blocked in gilt on spine and front cover, top edge gilt (slightly soiled), other edges uncut. A very good copy.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 3045

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography prose

HAMILTON (Anthony), Count. WALPOLE (Horace):

Memoires du Comte de Grammont,  Par Monsieur le Comte Antoine Hamilton. Nouvelle Edition,s Augmentée de Notes & d'Eclaircissemens necessaires....

A Londres: Chez J. Dodsley, 1783. 4to, 235 x 175 mms., pp. xxi [xxii - xxiii contents, xxiv blank], 290 [291 - 293 Index, 294 blank, engraved portrait of Grammont as frontispiece, further engraved portraits of Hamilton opposite page [iv], and of Cometesse Grammont opposite page 92, contemporary calf; corner cut from title-page and following page to remove name,, joints cracked and tender, corners worn, top and base of spine chipped. With a contemporary inscription of five lines in French on the recto of the front paste-down end-paper, 19th century autograph "Rebecca Hinds 1822" on title-page. Walpole (1717 - 1797) published this first at the Strawberry Hill Press in 1772, printing only 100 copies; this Dodsley imprint is the second edition and Walpole wrote an introduction for it. Hazen: Bibliography of the Strawberry Hill Press, no. 18; no. 54 in his bibliography of Walpole.

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Book number: 7342

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography History prose

HAYDN (Joseph). SEEBURG (Franz von):

Joseph Haydn. Scenes de la Vie d'un Grand Artiste. Traduit de Franz Seebourg par J. de Rochay. Deuxieme Edition.

Tours, Alfred Mame et Files..., 1884. Tall 8vo, pp. 237 [238 blank, 239 contents, 240 blank], including half-title, steel-engraved frontispiece, prize copy from the Ecole Primaire Publique in Orleans, bound in contemporary green embossed cloth, front cover blocked in gilt to a rectangle within a semi-lozenge design, with the arms of Orleans in the centre, all edges gilt; binding a little worn and soiled, front hinge slightly cracked. Seeburg's book was first published in Regensburg in 1882, and the French translation was first published in 1883, and into English in 1884.

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Book number: 4490

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography music prose French

HEWLETT (Esther):

The Old Man's Head: Or, Youthful Recollections. With Copper Plates.

London: William Darton..., no date, [1824] FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. 12mo (in 6s), 138 x 85 mms, pp. 180 [181 engraved advert for Dalton imprints, 182 blank], engraved frontispiece and two other engraved plates, contemporary quarter plum roan, marbled boards (worn and soiled), gilt spine; text fingered, extremities worn; with the inscription "Mary Gregson - 1830" on the recto of the front free end-paper. Esther Beuzeville (1786 - 1851) married Philip Hewlett (1780 - 1820) in 1809, and after his death remarried in 1827, this time to William Copley (1790 - 1857), a Baptist minister who was ten years her junior. One of her earliest works was Cottage Comforts, which made her reputation, and, as ONDB records, "Although it opened with a sententious section on the virtues essential to domestic comfort, Cottage Comforts was full of practical advice (the author had tried out her own recipes) and was forthright on such subjects as childbirth and constipation." ONDB gives a date of 1823 for the publication of this work, but the engraved plates are dated 1824. Lines in verse break up the narrative. This appears to be one of her less common works, with copies located in BL, Bodleian, Victoria, and Albert on this side of the pond and at Florida, Penn, Princeton, and UCLA in north America.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 9087

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography juvenile literature

HICKEY (William):

Memoirs of William Hickey. Edited by Alfred Spencer.

London: Hurst & Blackett, Ltd..., n. d. [c. 1930] 4 volumes. 8vo, pp. x, 347 [348 blank]; x, 406 [407 - 408 adverts]; viii, 403 [404 blank, 405 - 408 adverts], xii, 512, 3 photogravure portraits in volume 2, two in volume 3, and 2 photogravure portraits and 6 other illustrations in volume 4, original cloth, spines blocked in gilt; very slightly shaken in casings, library stamp of former owner on front free end-papers and early pages of texts, but generally a good, serviceable set. A mixed set, consisting of volume 1, 9th edition; volume 2, 8th edition; volume 3, 4th edition; volume 4, 3rd edition. The first volume was first published in 1913 and the set was completed in 1925.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 6550

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography History prose