18TH-CENTURY BOOKS
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Shakespeare, William. All's well, that ends well. A comedy. As it is acted at the Theatres-Royal in Drury-Lane and Covent-Garden.... London: Pr. for J. Harrison, 1778. 8vo. 17, [1] pp. (lacks the plate).
$125.00

•  ESTC (electronic, accessed April 2000) T21272. Modern wrappers; sewing loosening in first signature. Without the plate. Back leaf chipped at fore-edge and with one tiny hole near bottom edge. Light soiling to title-page; some age-toning to margins.

For more such SHAKESPEARE — click here.
For more THEATER/THEATRE,  click here.

English Politics — American Issues — Religious “Merits”

•  Lots going on here. For the Americanists, there is discussion of the Quebec bill and taxation of the American colonies. For historians of English politics there is review of parliamentary and newspaper “comparison . . . between the public and private virtues of their present Majesties, and those of King William and Queen Mary. The merits, also, of Roman Catholics, and of Dissenters from the Church of England, respecting allegiance and liberty, and their claims to national protection, are fairly stated, from their past and present transactions.”

First edition, with two others appearing shortly thereafter.

•  Adams, American Controversy, 74-73a. Sabin 80040. Recent boards with marbled paper covering. Paper spine label. Title-page with small 19th-century library stamp and call number in neat ink; page backed. A very nice copy.

      For more PRE-1820 AMERICANA,  click here.
For more ENGLISH POLITICS,  click here.
For more RELIGION,  click here.

This TimePay Attention

•  Second edition. Sheridan entered Parliament in 1780, crowning his previous career as a successful playwright and theatre manager with a long and distinguished record of public service. He originally read the main portion of this statement before the House of Commons as part of the debate, after noticing that the gentlemen discussing the two bills in question appeared not to have paid “any very minute degree of attention” (p. 6) to the details of either one.
Single-click lefthand image,
for an enlargement.

The texts of both bills are present here, along with Sheridan’s analysis of how each would address “the question of right between the public and the [East India] Company” (p. 39).

•  ESTC T30944; Goldsmiths’-Kress no. 13610. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with gilt-stamped leather title label and spine with gilt-stamped leather author label. Half-title and several other pages stamped by a now-defunct institution. Pages with edges untrimmed and a few small spots of staining; mostly, clean.

For more ENGLISH POLITICS,  click here.
Or for our INDIA gathering,  click here.

AModerate Defense of The Indefensible

•  Thomas Sherlock (1678-1761), master of St. Catherine’s Hall, Cambridge, and bishop of London, was noted for the persuasive power of his writing and preaching. Here he argues for the judicious use of matters now deemed in churches to be an abuse of the pastoral office, namely pluralities (holding more than one benefice at a time), and non-residence in the parish where one holds a benefice, arguing also for fair salaries for the curates who fulfill the function of the incumbent during his absence or incapacity.

•  ESTC T53315; Goldsmiths' Kress 7503. On Sherlock, see: The Dictionary of National Biography, LII, 93–95. Recent wrappers. Light to moderate soiling and staining, mostly on front and last leaves. Small chip from lower outer corner of title-leaf. Inked price (6^d) on title-page.

TheLovat Vassals Protest

(Simon “The Fox” Fraser).

•  The tenants of the Lovat estate petition for a delay in producing the writs and securities of their holdings, as the protracted dispute between the Lovat family and the infamous Capt. Simon Fraser of Beaufort (who attempted a forced marriage to the family’s heiress, young Amelia Fraser, before successfully kidnapping and wedding her mother, the dowager Lady Amelia Murray) has left them in a sorry state regarding the payment of creditors. Not only does this broadside touch on the common perspective of a great contemporary scandal, but it is of interest for its scarcity as well. No holdings are listed by OCLC, RLIN, ESTC, or NUC Pre-1956.

•  Not in ESTC. On Fraser, see: Dictionary of National Biography, XX, 216–22. Excellent clean condition, with two small sewing holes at inner margin, one very small spot of foxing, and ink traces from printing process to outer edge. Tipped onto a leaf of 19th-century paper; now in a Mylar folder.

For more ENGLISH LAW,  click here.
For more SCOTLAND & SCOTS,  click here.
For more BROADSIDES,  click here.

Conquest of Mexico — FIRST Edition in English
TALL FOLIO

•  Many editions of Solís's eminently readable history have come down the pike since the first appeared in Madrid in 1684. The present one is the first edition in English. Solís was an official court historian and as such had access not only to published sources but also to archival sources not previously used. Despite writing while the Baroque era flourished in Spain, his prose is remarkably unornamented or convoluted. This clarity of style when combined with the stirring and near-mythic events of the conquest of Mexico has accounted for the hundreds of editions that have come down to us.


•  Sabin 86487; Medina, Biblioteca hispano-americana, 1773n; Palau 318693; European Americana 724/165. Recent quarter calf, antique style: Round spine with raised bands accented with gilt rules and beading; gilt center devices; marbled paper sides. Ex-library copy with stamps. First few leaves crumpled in lower margins; last dozen leaves foxed, sometimes heavily. Lacks all plates and maps except one map—yet pleasing to the reader.

For Books for the BUSTED
            BIBLIOPHILE,  click here.

Classic History of South America — ILLUSTRATED

•  Attractive copy of this classic history of the conquest of Mexico, written by one of Spain's most influential historians of the baroque era of the 17th century. Solís's work was enormously popular and was translated into various modern European languages, usually appearing in more than one edition in any given language. Here it appears in its third English edition, with handsome engravings including a portrait of Cortés. Some bibliographies call for three folding plates in vol. II, but Sabin notes that virtually all of the copies he had seen had had two only, as is the case with the present copy.

•  Sabin 86491. Recently rebound in distinguished-looking calf, covers framed in double gilt fillets, spines with raised gilt-ruled bands and gilt-stamped crimson title labels. Vol. II lacking one plate. Title-pages with library cancels over original oval stamps; three library stamps in addition to those, in each volume. Plates generally in excellent condition, some with light offsetting, one with small edge tear touching image, one with short fold tear touching image, and the most oversized plate with long tear along innermost fold. A pleasing duo.

For ILLUSTRATED BOOKS,  click here.
For more RARE MEXICANA,  click here.

TO Part XXXII . . .

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