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Description: 8vo, pp. [xvi], '287' (mistake for 289); contemporary panelled calf, rebacked at an early date, red morocco label (some wear to spine and corners, joints cracked). First edition of the author's first book. John Whaley (1710-1745) was born in Norwich, the son of a tradesman. He was educated at Eton, and King's College, Cambridge, where he gained a reputation as 'a man of genius and a poet', and gathered around him a set of bright young men; an acquaintance, William Cole, later described Whaley as living 'a dissolute and debauched kind of life', which probably suggests that he was gay. At some point early on Whaley had formed a connection with the Walpole family, and in 1735 he was appointed tutor to Horace Walpole, who thought highly of him, and shared his interest in connoisseurship. 'Whaley was a socially ambitious man, and his journal indicates that he was able to gain an entrée into some of the most illustrious houses in England. He never married' (Oxford DNB). This collection of poems was published just after Whaley received his undergraduate degree. 'An accomplished, witty performance in a variety of styles and measures. The poems range from formal panegyrics and imitations of Greek and Latin authors, and versified Biblical stories in the manner of Prior, to informal epistles to friends, and fables in Dryden's style. Some of the material reveals Whaley's connection with his home city, for instance a prologue and epilogue for a Norwich school play. A number of poems indicate (or feign) familiarity with Venice and Rome, and an interest in art history, notably the 'Essay on Painting' in couplets' (Oxford DNB again). Included in this volume, without acknowledgement, are two youthful poems by George Lyttelton, Whaley's contemporary at Eton and Oxford, both of which had already been separately published. i.e. Blenheim (1728; Foxon L330) and An Epistle to Mr. Pope, from a Young Gentleman at Rome, (1730; Foxon L331). Included as well are nine poems (pp. 177-220) identified simply as having been contributed 'by a friend'. These were in fact by a classmate at King's College, Sneyd Davies (1709-1769), a curious and seemingly diffident young man who went on to become a domestic chaplain in Lichfield to Frederick Cornwallis, later Archbishop of Canterbury. The first of the poems is an imitation of an ode of Horace, called 'To a Gentleman in Love with a Negro Woman'. 'Sneyd Davies was a poor horseman, except on a chamber-horse; he was fond of smoking his pipe, and had a passion for bowling. He was never married, and was singularly simple, modest, and unworldly' (Oxford DNB). Davies never collected his poems, but many of them were reprinted in a long rambling biography by George Hardinge, published as part of Nichols's Illustrations (1817). Whaley's volume was published by subscription; a ten-page list of subscribers contains almost 700 names, including 'Horatio Walpole'. This copy is signed on the title-page by Spark Molesworth, whose name appears in the subscriber's list as a student at Trinity Hall, Cambridge (along with Hender Molesworth, of Clare Hall); on the front flyleaf is the shelf mark, "Pope book 5, shelf 3," which at least one later bookseller appears to have misinterpreted as indicating that this was actually Pope's own copy. Later bookplate of Oliver Brett, Viscount Esher. Foxon p. 888.
Seller: Christopher Edwards ABA ILAB, Henley-on-Thames, OXON, United Kingdom
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Description: Four volumes, 12mo, pp. [iv], iv, [viii], 272; [x], 276; [x], 264; [x], 264; each volume with an engraved frontispiece (repeated n vol I); uniformly bound in early 19th century calf, spines gilt, black morocco labels (rubbed, spines dull, rather worn with at least one hinge breaking). Third edition of vols I-III, first edition of vol IV. One of the best early 18th-century collections of songs, a great many of them from contemporary plays and operas; most are on amorous themes, and many are ribald. The first two volumes appeared originally in 1724, with the first volume going quickly into a second edition; vol III was printed the following year. The fourth volume differs slightly in that most of the songs are provided with titles; there are no indications of authorship, but among the poems at the beginning are lyrics by James Thomson, Henry Baker, Matthew Pilkington, John Gay, and Lewis Theobald, along with a song from Handel's Acis and Galatea. Each volume has the same engraved frontispiece; in vol I there is also a leaf of explanation, in the form of a poem called 'The Reformation of Parnassus'. The first volume also includes a four-page essay by Ambrose Philips called 'A Criticism on Song-Writing'; this was not included in the first edition. Because of the serial manner of publication, many of the locations in the ESTC are for odd volumes: for some reason, vol IV is particularly uncommon. Case notes the presence of J. Walthoe catalogues at the end of Vols. III-IV, but none is present here. With the book labels of the literary antiquary Joseph Haslewood (1769-1833) in vols I-III; later 19th-century bookplates of John Matthews of New York. Case 331 (1)(c), (2)(c), (3)(c), and (4)(a).
Seller: Christopher Edwards ABA ILAB, Henley-on-Thames, OXON, United Kingdom