[ARMSTRONG (Robert)]:

The Banquet of Euphrosyne: A Collection of the most Esteemed Songs, Scottish and English.

Hawick : Printed and Sold by R. Armstrong..., 1811. FIRST EDITION. 12mo, 178 x 92 mms., pp. [ii], 276, engraved portrait of Allan Ramsay as frontispiece, newly recased in boards, with paper label on spine; first five leaves slightly wormed at upper right margin, text a little browned. Euphrosyne is the goddess of good cheer, joy, and mirth, so this is a respectable anthology of amusing and cheerful poems and songs; they are predominately Scottish in origin. Was haggis served at Euphrosyne's banquet?

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 10173

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology ssongs literature

BEAUTIES.

Beauties in Prose and Verse, Selected from the Most Celebrated Authors, Antient and Modern, viz. Blair, Goldsmith, Sterne, Percival, Aikin, Brooke, Gessner, Drummond, Pliny, Robertson, Cicero, Jenyns, Fordyce, Johnson, Harris, Collins, Carter, Moore, Cunningham, Shenstone, Merrick, Cotton, Greville, Addison, Parnell, Melmoth, Gray, etc. With some Original Pieces. The Whole Calculated to Exhibit the most striking Pictures of Virtue and Vice to the Minds of Youth.

Stockton: Printed and Sold by R. Christopher. 1783. FIRST EDITION. 12mo, 175 x 98 mms., pp. xii, [13] - 300, including half-title, later full calf, spine blocked in gilt; ex-library, Winchester Public Library, "Withdrawn," two library labels before half-title, library stamp on verso of title-page, and small circular library stamp on top margin of page [13]. The concept of "beauties" as applied to extracts from poetry and prose suitable to be anthologized for the moral benefit of youth or the entertainment of adults seems to be one that began to be popular in the mid 18th century in Britain. In the Preface the compiler asks why another anthology is needed when there are so many on the market, answering that "there cannot be too many books adapted to purposes so laudable; and it is evident from the dictates of reason and nature, that the Youthful Mind is fond of novelty." He or she extolls the size of the type and the quality of the paper, and Hugh Bair's position at the beginning of the list of authors represented in the anthology is due to his "great ability in literature, [which] aRe too well known to need any encomiums." ESTC T188139 lists this as one of the two copies it locates; the other is in the Bodleian. There are also copies in the BL and NYPL (OCLC listing is mis-dated 1873).

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 8362

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology poetry literature

BIRCH (Samuel):

Consilia: Or, Thoughts on Several Subjects; Affectionately submitted to the Consideration of a Young Friend. The Second Edition, Corrected and Enlarged.

London: Printed for T. Cadell...; and I Sewell, ..., 1786. Small 8vo (in 4s), 160 x 92 mms., pp. [iv], 184, contemporary lightly mottled calf, spine richly gilt (but rubbed), red morocco label; slight wear to joints, but a very good copy. The first edition of 1785, of which I have not been able to find a copy, attracted a review in The London Review, beginning, "This little publication does more honour to the authors' heart than head. His sentiments in general are just, and his motives for communicting them laudable; but the dress in which he has cloathed them, is aukward and ill chosen. His observations on religion are trite, and only a repetition of what has frequently been said by others in a much more pleasing manner." Samuel Birch (1757–1841) began his life as a pastry cook, but later, in 1814, was Lord Mayor of London, ESTC T45406 locates copies of this second edition in BL, Bodleian, and Leeds only, but OCLC lists other copies, many of which seem to be online only. The first edition of 1785 was a 12mo, at 171 pages, and there is a copy in the BL.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 9974

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology anecdotes literature

BLAIR (Hugh):

Sentimental Beauties and Moral Delineations from the Writings of the Celebrated Dr. Blair, and Other Much Admired Authors; Selected with a View to Refine the Taste, Rectify the Judgment, and Mould the Heart to Virtue.

London: Printed [by C. Etherington] for John Wallis..., 1782. FIRST EDITION. 12mo, pp. xvi, 212 [213 Errata, 214 blank, 215 advert, 216 blank], including half-title, B4 signed B3, recently rebound in quarter calf, gilt spine, morocco label, marbled boards; some browning of text, margins of first three leaves slightly frayed. The volume is dedicated to Lord Hawke, Baron Townton, and the anonymous editor does not identify himself or the identity of the "other much admired authors" nor the selections from their prose. Wallis himself is likely to be the editor. The printer is identified as C. Etherington of Fleet Street at the foot of the last page of text. ESTC T109446 locates copies at BL, Bodleian, NLS; Ohio and Toronto. OCLC adds Union College, Transylvania University, and Free Library of Philadelphia. All editions appear to be uncommon.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 6241

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology beauties prose Scottish Enlightenment

BOYER (Abel), editor:

Letters of Wit, Politicks and Morality. Written Originally in Italian, by the famous Cardinal Bentivoglio; in Spanish by Signior Don Guevara; in Latin by St. Jerome, Cato Uticensts, Aurelian the Emperor, and Queen Zenobia; and in French by Father Rapin, &c. Also select letters of Gallantry out of the Greek, of Aristænetus; the Spanish of Don Quevedo; the Latin of Petronius; and the French of Count Bussy Rabutin, Madam Maintenon, Mr. Fontenelle, &c. Done into English, by the Honourable H- H- Esq; Tho. Cheek, Esq; Mr. Savage. Mr. Boyer, &c. To which is added a large collection of original letters of love and friendship. Written, by several gentlemen and ladies, particuly, the Honourable Mr. Granville, Tho. Cheek, Esq; Capt. Ayloffe; Dr. G- Mr. B-y; Mr. O-n, Mr. B-r, Mr. G-, Mr. F-r, Mrs. C--l, under the name of Astra; Mrs. W-n under the name of Daphne, &c.

London, Printed for J. Hartley, next door to the King's-head Tavern in Holborn: W. Turner in Lincolns-Inn-Fields: and Tho. Hodgson over against Grays-Inn-Gate, in Holborn 1701. FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. 8vo, 183 x 112 mms., pp. [xviii], 40, ,[2],41-437[i.e.427] 428 adverts], title-page very slightly scored, contemporary panelled calf; front joint slightly cracked but front hinge reinforced, top and base of spine chipped, but a good copy. The lexicographer and journalist, Abel Boyer (1667?–1729) was born in France, in Languedoc and was educated at the Protestant academy of Puylaurens (formerly Montauban); he made his way into England in 1689. In 1694, he published a very successful textbook, The compleat French master for Ladies and Gentlemen: being a new method, to learn with ease and delight the French Tongue, which made his fortune and was reprinted for the next hundred years. The letters of Bentivoglio, here translated by Savage and Boyer himself, had long been held up as classical models in writing, but the last collection "Original Letters of Love and Freindship" from a variety of male and female sources, is of particular interest in the context of the incipient English epistolary novel.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 9903

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology wit literature

BOYER (Jean Baptiste de), Marquis d'Argens:

New Memoirs establishing A True Knowledge of Mankind, by discovering the Affections of the Heart, and the Operations of the Understanding, In the various Scenes of Life: Being A Critical Inquiry into the Nature of Friendship and Happiness. An Essays on other Important Subjects. Interspersed with Letters from the Baron de Spon, the Emperor's Minister at Berlin.... And Two Novels, Spanish and French, shewing the Tragical Effects of Jealousy; the dissembling Arts of Coquetry; and the unhappy State of the Comedian. With Thoughts on the Art of Beautifying the Face, By Mademoiselle Cochois, The Favour both of the Court, and the Theatre, of Berlin.

London: Printed for D. Browne...and A. Millar..., 1747. FIRST EDITION. 2 volumes. 12mo. pp. vii [viii - xxiv Contents], 261 [262 adverts]; [xii], 274, one engraved plate in volume 1, hideously rebound in totally unsuitable and undescribable plastic of some sort (I don't want to know what it is); title-pages and last page of text soiled. A translation of Nouveaux memoirs, pour servir a l'histoire de l'esprit et du cœur which Boyer (1703 - 1771) published in 1746. ESTC 113949 locates only the BL copy in these islands, but 10 copies in North American libraries: CaOTU, CtY-BR, CSmH, CU-A, DLC, ICU, MH, PPL, and SSL.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 4103

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology psychology prose

BRYDGES (Samuel Egerton):

Censura Literaria. Comprising Titles, Abstracts and Opinions of Old English Books, With Original Disquisitions, Articles of Biography, and other Literary Antiquities.

London: Printed by T. Bensley..., For Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme...and J. White..., 1805 - 1809. FIRST EDITION. 10 volumes. Large 8vo, pp. iv, viii, 471 [472 blank]; xvi, 400; viii; 440; xv [xvi blank], 480; xv [xvi blank], 431 [432 blank]; xv [xvi Errata], 440; viii, 439 [440 blank]; xvi, 431 [432 blank]; vii [viii blank], 447 [448 blank]; viii, 416, xxii [xxiii adverts, xxiv blank], with half-titles, 5 pages notes in a contemporary hand in volume 10, contemporary calf; spines and hinges volumes 1, 2 3, and 7 repaired with tape, corners worn, ex-library with library stamps in blind on about ten leaves in each volume. Brydges (1762 - 1837), like many of the antiquaries of his period, reprinted lost or forgotten works of English literature, with commentaries and notes. In the production of the later volumes, he had the assistance of Joseph Haslewood and Thomas Park. This was the first of his antiquarian anthologies and was followed by three others, The British Bibliographer (1810 - 1814), Restituta (1816 - 1818), and Res Literariae (1821 - 1822).

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 5119

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology antiquities literature

CARRINGTON (John):

Gems of British Poesy, on Various Subjects, intended to Enforce the Practice of Virtue.

London: Printed for the Author, By W. Day, 17, Goswell Streeet; Sold by G. Ford..., 1826, FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. 8vo,, 160 x 96 mms., pp. [v] vi - xi [xii blank], [9] 10 - 188, including half-title, engraved portrait (by J. Shurry after J. Palmen) as frontispiece, last two leaves printed as doubleton, contemporary half red morocco, gray boards, silver label on spine. A very good to fine copy, with ms. corrections which might be in Carrington's hand; the ones on pages 18 - 21 annotating Byron, are those stanzas 178 to 184 of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and appear to be reversing printer's errors rather than being authorial substantive variants. How's this for a diffident opening to a preface: "The author of this Volume, has not much to say on this occasion." True to his word, the preface is less than two pages, affirming the principle enunciated in the title, "It is the peculiar property of Poetry to do good by stealth; to hid the thorny paths of instruction by covering it with flowers; and the veriest infidel in polite learning, must be something more than abandoned, if he will not visit the Temple of Instruction, when Pleasure leads the way to it." The volume appears to be mostly an anthology, though none of the original author's are credited, e. g., Cowper's poem, "The Negro's Complaint" (1788) is included, though without credit given to the author; the same is true of Wordsworth's "Crazy Jane." Carrington's preface is virtually identical to that in Thomas Tomkins Poems on Various Subjects (1804): "The Editor of this Collection has not much to say on the present occasion...[etc]." The only copy that I know of in a public repository is the one in the BL.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 9071

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology poetry literature

COLMAN (George):

Prose on Several Occasions; Accompanied by Some Pieces in Verse.

London: Printed for T. A. Cadel..., 1787 FIRST COLLECTED EDITION. 3 volumes. 12mo, 181 x 107 mms., pp. [ix], vi - xvi [xvii - xxiii Contents, xxiv blank], 266; [viii], 318; [xiii], iv - xx [xxiii - xxiv txt], 290, including half-title in each volume, engraved portrait (by J. Hall after Gainsborough) in volume 1, contemporary calf, rebacked in lighter calf, red morocco labels; corners and fore-edges slightly worn, but a very good set. Colman (1732 - 1794) gives an amusing account of himself in volume one (pp. 19 - 31) in an essay that appeared in the periodical, The Genius, beginning with comments on his "remarkable low stature; a sort of diminutive plaything of Mother Nature"; he was about five feet tall in his stockings. He had an honourable and a successful career as playwright and theatre manager, probably the best theatre manager of the century. Prose on Several Occasions was extensively reviewed, being noticed in now fewer than seven periodicals. The Monthly Review concluded its comments saying that the "Public...will receive the same degree of pleasure, they have so frequently derived from the production of Mr. Colman's pen, while the author will add a new sprig of laurel to the wreath, with which his brows have long been decorated." Alston, III, 381.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 8348

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology essays literature

[?CRAMER (John or Gabriel)]:

Thesaurus Secretorum Curiosorum in quo Curiosa non Solum ad Omnes Corporis Humani cùm internos, tùm externos Morbos curandos, sed etiam ad Cutis, Faciei, aliarumque Partium ornatum, formam, nitorem, & elegantiam conciliandos continentur Secreta. Quibus Insuper Quamplurima Varii Generis non minus Curiosa, quam utilia addita sunt Secreta. Cume Indice Partium, Capitum, & Materiarum qua in toto Opere continentur.

Coloniae Allobrogum Sumptibus Societatis. 1709. FIRST EDITION. 4to, 212 x 127 mms., pp.[xvi], 552, 653 - 668, title-page in red and black with"E. Libris Rd. Hamilton" on the top margin, recently rebound in half dark brown calf, morocco label, marbled boards; title-page a bit soiled, but a good copy. The attribution of authorship to Gabriel or John Cramer is found in Alexander Chalmers' General Biographical Dictionary. Compilations of this sort, consisting of alchemy, medicine, folk remedies, magic, probably haven't lost their popularity over the ages, with the emphasis often on magic and secrecy. This one promises to examine the whole human body, with reference to the treatment of internal and external diseases. The empirical medical researchers in the 17th century in Britain, such as Harvey and Descartes, were moving away from chemical and spagiric treatments of illness. but quack handbooks did not lose their popularity.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 8911

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology medicine prose

CREECH (William):

Edinburgh Fugitive Pieces: with Letters, containing a Comparative View of the Modes of Living, Arts, Commerce, Literature, Manners, &c. of Edinburgh, at Different Periods. To which is prefixed an Account of his Life.

Edinburgh: Printed by George Ramsay and Company, for John Fairbairn (Successor to Mr Creech), 1815. 8vo, pp. [xl], 372, 4 pages adverts at end, engraved portrait of Creech as frontispiece, contemporary half calf, gilt spine, red morocco label, marbled boards; joints cracked, spine rubbed and starting to split on lower portion. Creech (1745 - 1815) published this first in 1791 under the pseudonym Theophrastus, and this expanded version includes new essays.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 5115

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology essays prose Scottish Enlightenment

[FERENTILLI (Agostino)]:

[Primo Volume] Della Scielta di Stanze Di diuersi Autori Toscani, Raccolte, & nuouamente poste in luce da M. Agostino Ferentilli., Et da lui con diligenza riuste al Signor Francesco Gentile. Con licenza, & priuileglo.

Venetia, ad instantia de' Giunti di Firenza, 1571. FIRST EDITION. 12mo, 132 x 64 mms., pp. [xxxiv], 548 [549 - 551 errat, 552 blank], printed throughout in italics, woodcut and library stamp on title-page, later red morocco (probably early 18th century), gilt borders, black morocco label; first two words of title removed with paper replacement, some ink-stains on title-page, corners worn, spine faded, other slight wear to binding. A second volume was planned but never published, hence the deletion, probably by the printer or publisher, of "Primo Volume" on the title-page. This volume was republished in 1584. The work is an anthology of poetry by various Italian authors, male and female, including Chiara Matraini (1515 - 1604). All published. "La seconda parte delle stanze di diversi autori." etc. by Terminio, is sometimes treated as the second pt. of this Collection; sometimes as the second of "Stanze di diversi illustri poeti," by L. Dolce (OCLC, locating copies in BL, Pennsylvania; and BN. The OCLC note for the Pennsylvania copy adds, "Dedication letter dated: "xxij di decembre MDLXXI" [December, 22 1571]./ Two other variant issues of this work appeared; one has imprint statement: "In Venetia ad instantia de' Giunti di Firenze, 1571"; the other one has dedicatory letter dated November 10, 1570./ Errata on two leaves at end./ Woodcut initials; head-pieces." The printer was Sessa Melchiorre (active 1506 - 1549).

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 8163

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology poetry

FIELDING (Henry):

The Beauties of Fielding: Carefully Selected from the Works of that Eminent Writer. To which is added Some Account of his Life.

London: Printed for G. Kearsley..., 1782. FIRST EDITION. 12mo (in 6s), pp. xvi, 203 [204 adverts], H2 signed H3, H3 signed H5, engraved title-page with vignette of Fielding, later 18th century quarter sheepskin (worn and rubbed), marbled boards (detached), with the inscription in an 18th century hand "Ex D. Kilner" on the front paste-down end-paper and "Sarah Woodward [?Genson]/ Sept. '64 " [i. e., 1864], on the recto of the front free end-paper, with a pencil drawing of "arms of S. W. G." below the name. D. Kilner is possibly the children's writer, Dorothy Kilner (1755 - 1836). Kearsley published three editions of this work, as well as other "Beauties" with similar title-pages, and the only change seems to be in the title-page. An edition was published in Dublin in 1783.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 6544

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology essays literature

HALL (Samuel Carter):

Book of Gems The Poets and Artists of Great Britain. Edited by S. C. Hall. [ 2 volumes]. The Modern Poets and Artists of Great Britain. [1 volume].

London:: Saunders and Otley, 1836, 1837, 1838. FIRST EDITIONS. 3 volumes. 8vo, 210 x 131 mms., pp. xvi, 304 [305 - 308 facsimiles of poets' autographs]; xvi, 304 [305 - 308 facsimiles of poets' autographs]; xvi, 304 [305 - 308 facsimiles of poets' autographs], engraved title-pages, engraved vignettes and head-pieces throughout all three volumes, contemporary diced roan, spines ornately gilt in compartments, all edges gilt; lacks labels, but a very good set. Hall (1800 - 1889) was probably one of the busiest and most industrious authors, compilers, and editors of the 19th century. Peter Mandler in ODNB concludes his entry on Hall, with this observation: "And yet his life as a whole stands as a model of Victorian energy and uprightness, and his work as editor and animateur did much to popularize art and literature and thus to support the mass market for high culture so characteristic of the middle third of the nineteenth century." He was careful to use contemporary or recent artists for the illustrations - Constable, Gainsborough, Landseer, Reynolds. among others. To this one must add that he was also regarded as something of a prig with a high-mindedness that was more judgmental than practical; he was almost certainly the model for Mr. Pecksniff in Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 7144

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology poetry literature

HOWARD (Charles):

Thoughts, Essays, and Maxims, Chiefly Religious and Political.

London: Printed for T. Lewis...and sold by S. Bladon..., 1768. FIRST EDITION. Small 8vo, 153 x 91 mms., pp. [iv] 3] 4 - 143 [144 blank], contemporary calf, red leather label; top margin of title-page with two small holes, joints slightly cracked, rear joint slightly wormed, but a good copy. Charles Howard, the tenth Duke of Norfolk (1720–1786) was a wealthy landowner, who had began his literary career in 1763, with a short pamphlet about his inheritance. "This was followed by three more works: Considerations on the Penal Laws against Roman Catholics in England and the New-Acquired Colonies in America (1764), Thoughts, Essays and Maxims, Chiefly Religious and Political (1768), and Historical Anecdotes of some of the Howard Family (1769). The last two were influenced by the death of Edward Howard, a nephew of the duke of Norfolk, which left Charles Howard as heir to the dukedom. His publications and impending inheritance probably contributed to his election as FSA on 14 January 1768 and FRS on 24 March 1768. But they did not impress Horace Walpole, who regarded Howard as a plagiarist on the grounds of the extensive quotation from his Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors of England that Howard used to fill out his account of the poet earl of Surrey in the Historical Anecdotes. In a letter to Horace Mann, dated 27 February 1770, Walpole characterized Howard as 'a drunken old mad fellow' (Walpole, Corr., 23.194) who attended a masquerade ball dressed as a cardinal. Howard's irreverent attitude towards his Catholic faith—he described himself as 'a whig Papist—a monster in nature' (Robinson, 166)—contributed to his lasting reputation for 'eccentric manners and more eccentric habits.'" (ODNB). The Monthly Review in July, 1769, concluded its review with this endorsement: "The whole forms an agreeable miscellany; and will prove particularly acceptable to those who have a taste for research into the history and antiquities of the families of our ancient nobility." The Monthly Review in January, 1768, when the first edition was published, was not quite so enthusiastic: "The world is by no means in want of literary trifles; and we much fear that Mr. Howard's Miscellanies will only serve to add to their number, instead of 'proving of any service or instruction to mankind'; for though we apprehend that he has sufficiently manifested a good heart, and an improved manner of thinking, in the observations here offered to the world, yet, in our judgment, he is not sufficiently qualified for a public writer." This work appears with the title-page in two states: as above, with the word "Essays" (ESTC locates two UK copies and 11 North American copies) and a state in which the word "Essays" is omitted (Two UK copies only). None of the copies would appear to have the genealogies. Among Howard's topics, all treated very briefly, are justice, the poet Churchill, persecution, sanctuaries and asylums, duelling, gaming, entails, etc.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 9540

Catalogue: Anthology

Keywords: anthology essays prose