MARMONTEL (Jean-François):

Memoirs of Marmontel, Written by Himself: Containing his Literary and Political Life, and Anecdotes of the Principal Characters of the Eighteenth Century.

London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme...and John Murray..., 1805. FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION. 4 volumes. Large 12mo, pp. [iv], 496 [407 - 408 adverts]; [iv], 346 [347 - 348 adverts]; [iv], 356; [iv], 344 [ 345 - 348 adverts], 12 [more adverts], including half-title in each volume, uncut and many leaves unopened, original boards, sympathetically rebacked with original labels retained, new end-papers; occasional foxing, edges a little soiled, but generally a very good set, with the autograph of Winthrop Sargent (1753 - 1820) on the top margin of the title-page and his armorial bookplate on the front paste-down end-paper of volume 1. Sargent was prominent in the establishment and affairs of the United States, from his battles in the Revolutionary War to his appointment as the first governor of the Louisiana Territory. Marmontel's Memoires d'un Pere pour servir a l'instruction de ses enfans was first published in 1804, five years after his death in 1799. The English title perhaps more accurately describes the contents than the French title, though it does contain many details about his own childhood, as well as the history of his literary life. Sainte-Beauve said of Marmontel that he "est au premier rang parmi les bons littérateurs du XVIIIe siècle ."

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Book number: 3799

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography history prose

MARSOLLIER (Jacques):

The Life of St. Francis of Sales, Bishop and Prince of Geneva, founder of the order of the Vitiation. Translated from the original French...By the Rev. William Henry Coombes.

Shepton-Mallet: Printed by W. J. Quartley..., 1812. FIRST EDITION of this translation. 2 volumes. 8vo, pp. xi [xii blank, xiii drop-titled, xiv blank], 477 [478 blank]; 592, contemporary half blue sheepskin, gilt spines, marbled boards (slightly rubbed); first few leaves of volume 1 very slightly affected by damp, base of spine volume 2 repaired, base of spine volume 1 slightly defective.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 2831

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography prose

MARTIN (Alfred Tobias John):

The Remains of the Late Tobias Martin of Breage, in Cornwall, Mine Agent, with a Memoir of the Author.

Helston: Printed at the Temple of the Muses by W. Penaluna, 1831. FIRST EDITION. 12mo, 178 x 105 mms., pp. xi [xii blank], 258, with errata slip tipped in before first page of contents, contemporary half calf, marbled boards, gilt spine, black leather label, with a blank bookplate on the front paste-down end-paper. The work consists of a long biographical introduction and a number of poems and is dedicated "To the Adventurers, Agents, and Clerks of the Wheal Von Consolidated Mines, and to the Miners, Generally, of the County of Cornwall." A second edition was published in 1856. WorldCat locates copies of the first edition in BL; North Carolina, California Davis, and Stanford. Uncommon

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 9254

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography poetry literature

MASSON (David):

Memories of Two Cities, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Edinburgh and London: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier, 1911. FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. 317 [318 blank], photogravure frontispiece, original buckram, blocked in gilt; ex-library, with library stamp on title-page and fore-edges and library bookplate on front paste-down end-paper. Masson (1822 - 1907) held the chair of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres at the University of Edinburgh, 1865 - 1895.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 5505

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography topography prose

METCALF (John):

The Life of John Metcalf; commonly called Black Jack of Knaresbrough; with many entertaining anecdotes of His Exploits in Hunting, Card Play, &c. some particulars relative to the Expedition against the Rebels, in 1745, In which he bare a Personal Share; and also, a succinct account of his various contracts of Making Roads, Erecting ridges, and Other Undertakings. In Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, and Cheshire. Which, for a series of years have brought him into a most Extraordinary Characters. The Fifth Edition, with considerable Additions and Amendments.

London: Printed for the Booksellers; and for J. Kendrew, Collier-Gate, York [no date], [1812]. 12mo, 184 x 113 mms., pp. 72, engraved portrait frontispiece "Publish'd by J. Kendrew...1812," original printed wrappers, uncut and stitched as issued; rather the worse for wear, with covers soiled, part of spine missing, corners creased, and edges soiled and crushed. Metcalf (1717 - 1810) published this account of his life in 1795, and it was frequently reprinted after that. A bout of smallpox rendered him blind when he was six, but he had an extraordinary career. Among other accomplishments, he was responsible for developing and building some of the best roads in England. No copies traced in UK libraries; WorldCat locates copies in Yale, Indiana, and the Library of Congress.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 7352

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography blindness prose

MORE (Sir Thomas). ROPER (William):

The Life of Sir Thomas More, By his Son-in-Law, William Roper, Esq. With Notes, and an Appendix of his Letters. A New Edition, Revised and Corrected, By S. W. Singer.

Chiswick: From the Press of C. Whittingham For R. Triphook..., 1822. Small 8vo, 165 x 104 mms., pp. l, 195 [196 colophon], 2, ornament on verso of last blank, egraved portrait as frontispiece, additional engraved plate at page 1, contemporary half hard gain morocco, marbled boards, gilt spine, top edge gilt; portrait off-setting on title-page, but a good copy. 1 Sir William Roper (c. 1495 to 1498 -1578) was the father of Margaret Roper (1505–1544), who became the wife of Sir Thomas More. ODNB notes, "Roper did not share all More's views. He was not a humanist or a Hellenist or a theologian but a conservative lawyer, whose ideas were probably akin to those of Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester. He made no difficulty about the oath of supremacy at which More stuck. But he was personally devoted to More and did his best to support him in the crisis which destroyed him. It was through him that Cromwell would convey advice or, when possible, encouragement to More, and he urged More, in vain, to be more accommodating. He was deeply affected by More's tragedy and the distress which it caused to his own wife."

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Book number: 9699

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: Biography scholarship literature

MORE (Henry). WARD (Richard):

The Life of The Learned and Pious Dr. Henry More, Late Fellow of Christ's College in Cambridge. To which are annex'd Dives of his Useful and Excellent Letters.

London, Printed and Sold by Joseph Downing in Bartholomew-Close near West-Smithfield, 1710. FIRST EDITION. 8vo, 174 x 113 mms., pp. [xxiv], 362 [363 - 366 index, 337 - 338 adverts], fine engraved portrait frontispiece, contemporary panelled calf, raised bands between gilt rules on spine, red leather label. A very good to fine copy. The philosopher, poet, and theologian, Henry More (1614 - 1687) was one of England's most eminent philosophers and the most productive of the Cambridge Platonists. He was closely associated with Joseph Glanvill (1636 - 1680) and he edited Sadducismus Triumphatus, the books by which Glanvill is best-known, in 1681. The philosophers Anne Conway, Viscountess Conway and Killultagh (1631–1679) was introduced by her brother, John Finch, to More, and he agreed to become one of her tutors. As a woman, she was not allowed to attend a university, so More tutored her by correspondence: "his early tutorial relationship, which commenced in 1650, subsequently blossomed into a lifelong friendship which afforded Anne intellectual companionship unmatched for a woman of her generation" (ODNB).

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 9816

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: Biography correspondence prose

NORTH (Roger):

The Lives of the Right Hon. Francis North, Baron Guilford, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, under King Charles II. and King James II. The Hon. Sir Dudley North, Commissioner of the Customs...and The Hon. and Rev. Dr. John North, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Clerk of the Closet to King Charles II. A New Edition, With Notes and Illustrations, Historical and Biographical.

London: Henry Colburn..., 1826. 3 volumes. 8vo, pp. xxiii [xxiv blank], [iv], 475 [476 printer's imprint]; [iv], 428, including half-titles in volumes 2 and 3, engraved portrait as frontispiece in each volume, contemporary calf (rubbed and scored), sturdily rebacked with red and black morocco labels; ex-library with library stamps on title-pages. North (1653 - 1734) collected materials and revised his texts for the lives of his brothers for two decades; the life of Francis was first published in 1742, and the other two lives followed in 1744. This edition was prepared by Henry Roscoe.

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Book number: 1302

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography history prose

[PAOLI (Giovanni Antonio de)]:

Sommario delle Vite de Gl'Imperadori Romani, Cavato dall'Historie Antiche, et Moderne, con le Loro Effigie, Ritratte Dalla Medaglie, Et anco in nomi de' Pontefici, che a quei tempi furono.

In Siena, Appresso gli Heredi de Matteor Florini, 1616. Small 4to, 206 x 140 mms., 40 leaves with the wood-engraved images of 155 Roman emperors, in double columns, engraved vignette on title-page, fore-margin and lower margin of last leaf slightly defective with loss of four letters, but a very good copy, bound in full hard-grain brown morocco by The Club Bindery circa 1900, with gilt dentelles, gilt spine, and the small rectangular red morocco bookplate of Robert Hoe III (1839 - 1909), noted collector and first president of The Grolier Club. Paoli's dates are given in some sources as 1599 - 1630, and the earliest edition of this book that I have traced was published in 1606, which would make him rather precocious. The work was frequently reprinted and was translated into English in 1636, probably by Robert Basset, though the translation is also attributed to Richard Braithwait.

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Book number: 7694

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography engraving prose

PLUTARCH.

Plutarch's Lives, translated from the original Greek, with Notes, Historical and Critical; And A Life of Plutarch. By John Langhorne and William Langhorne. A New Edition, carefully corrected, and the index much amended, and accurately revised throughout.

London: Printed for Sharp and Son..., 1819. 6 volumes. 8vo, pp. lx, 394; [iv], 532; [iv], 526; [iv], 454; [iv, 532]; [iv], [iv], 488, engraved frontispiece in volume 1, contemporary calf, gilt spines, black morocco labels; spines slightly defective, but with most of spine volume 6 missing.

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Book number: 5688

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography classics prose

POLIZIANO (Angelo):

Angeli Politiani et Aliorum virorum illust Epistolae cum praefatione in Suet. expositionem.

Amstelodami, pud Joan. Janssonium, 1644. 12mo, 123 x 68 mms., pp. [xxiv, including engraved title-page], 610, later calf, rebacked, gilt rules across spine, red morocco label; old end-papers from an incubabulum, armorial bookplate of Joseph Pickford, Junr. on front paste-down end-paper, and the autograph of William [?Dance] on lower margin of title-page, inscription "Joh. Pickford Junr/ January 1785" on the top margin of the recto of the first printed leaf. "Agnolo (Angelo) Ambrogini (14 July 1454 – 24 September 1494), commonly known by his nickname Poliziano, anglicized as Politian; Latin: Politianus), was an Italian classical scholar and poet of the Florentine Renaissance" (Wikipedia). His birth city, Montepulciano, will be well known to wine drinkers. The preface or introduction is a short biography of the life and writings of Poliziano by Gerardus Vossius (1577 - 1649), the Dutch scholar and theologian. Poliziano began preparing his correspondence for publication before he died, and the first edition of the correspondence was prepared and published by Aldus Manutius in 1498.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 9470

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: Biography letters literature

PORTEUS (Beilby). HODGSON (Robert):

The Life of the Right Reverend Beilby Porteous, D. D. Late Bishop of London.

London: Printed by Luke Hansard & sons..., 1811. 8vo, 215 x 128 mms., pp. [iv], 319 [320 adverts], engraved portrait frontispiece (off-setting on title-page), contemporary tree calf, spine ornately gilt in compartments, green morocco label; slight wear to front joint but a very good copy. From the Gawdy Hall Library, with library shelf mark on upper margin of front paste-down end-paper, and the armorial bookplate of the Rev. John Holmes on the verso of the front free end-paper, and below that the book label of John Sparrow, and notes in his hand loosely inserted.

John Price Antiquarian BooksProfessional seller

Book number: 2860

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography prose

PRICE (Ridhard). MORGAN (Willliam):

Memoirs of the Life of The Rev. Richard Price, D. D. F. R. S.

London: Printed for R. Hunter..., 1815. FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. 8vo, 213 x 124 mms., pp. [iii] i viii, 189 [190 blank, 191 adverts, 192 blank], contemporary half calf, marbled boards (rubbed and worn), red leather label; end-papers a little soiled, joints cracked, extremities worn. In his ODNB entry on Richard Price (1723 - 1791) D. O. Thomas describes him as philosopher, demographer, and political radical. He was that and more, and one sentence from his political writings about the natural rights of human beings has timeless validity and importance: "First, the right to liberty of conscience in religious matters; secondly, the right to resist power when abused; and thirdly, the right to chuse our own government, to cashier them for misconduct, and to frame a government for our selves." The British Critic, and Quarterly Theological Review, opened its review with the assertion, "No great injury, we think would have been done to the republic of letters, or to the interests of mankind, if the subject of these Memoirs had been suffered to rest in oblivion..... Those persons, however, who inherit Dr. Price's sentiments, (which, we trust, for the honour and safety of our country,) will probably be delighted with Mr. Morgan's tribute to his uncle." The reviewer adds that those "deluded contemporaries" who shared Prices' views must be delighted with the results of the French Revolution, "with all its delightful appendages of murder, sacrilege, and rapine...."

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Book number: 9603

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: Biography philosophy prose

RADCLIFFE (Sir George). WHITAKER (Thomas Dunham):

The Life and Original Correspondence of George Radcliffe, Knight, LL. D. The Friend of the Earl of Strafford.

London: Printed by John Nichols and Son...and sold by Longman...[et al], 1810. 1810 FIRST EDITION. 4to, 280 x 220 mms., pp. vii [viii blank], 296 [297 - 330 Index, 340 blank], 2 folding genealogical charts, contemporary boards (soiled and worn); front cover detached, ex-library (Bradford Public Library, with attractive bookplate on front paste-down end-paper, but marred by library stamp), with several library stamps. Sir George Ratcliffe (1593 - 1657), lawyer and politician, acted as counsel for Sir Thomas Wentworth; he later served the crown in Ireland, 1633 - 1640. Whitaker's biography is one of the chief sources for information about his life.

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Book number: 6756

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography History prose

REYNOLDS (Sir Joshua). HILLES (Frederick Whiley):

The Literary Career of Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Archon Press, 1967. 8vo, pp. xx, 318, original cloth, worn dust-wrapper. A reprint of the 1936 first edition.

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Book number: 3264

Catalogue: Biography

Keywords: biography aesthetics prose