Octavo: 12.4 x 7.8 cm. [iv], 269, [7] lvs. Collation: A4, B-2M8, 2N4
“Wits Theater” was produced as part of a publishing project conceived by John Bodenham. The “series” began with Nicholas Ling’s “Politeuphuia: Wits Commonwealth” in 1597, and also included the poetic miscellany “Englands Parnassus” of 1600.
“Wits Theater”
Like the later “Englands Parnassus”, “Wits Theater” was compiled by Robert Allott and may be regarded as the prose equivalent of the poetical “Parnassus”.
Two of the most important literary works of the English Renaissance, Together with Ascham’s Essay on Historiography - With Manuscript waste from a 15th c. Breviary with several lines in Middle English
London: Printed by Iohn Daye, dwelling ouer Aldersgate, [1571], London: In Fletestreate neare to Saint Dunstones Churche by Thomas Marshe, 1571, London, Printed by Iohn Daye, dwelling ouer Aldersgate, ca. 1570
$45,000.00
Quarto: Three volumes bound as one: 19.5 x 14.2 cm. I. [manicule]2, B-T4. II. *4, A-H8, III. A-I4
I. “The Schoolmaster”:
“The indispensable link between the earlier Tudor writers and the great Elizabethan and Jacobean writers of English prose”(Ryan, 292)
The Cambridge-educated Ascham, one of the best known of the English humanists, produced two works that had a great influence on the use of English as a literary language as well as on the education of children and the conduct of English gentlemen.
“The indispensable link between the earlier Tudor writers and the great Elizabethan and Jacobean writers of English prose” (Ryan, 292) - Printed by John Day
London: Printed by Iohn Daye, dwelling ouer Aldersgate, 1571
$15,000.00
Quarto: 18.4 x 14 cm. [manicule]2, B-T4
“The Scholemaster”, Ascham’s Masterpiece:
The Cambridge-educated Ascham, one of the best known of the English humanists, produced two works that had a great influence on the use of English as a literary language as well as on the education of children and the conduct of English gentlemen.
Folio: 32.3 x 21.5 cm. ¶4, A-Z6, Aa-Zz6, Aaa-Zzz6, Aaaa-Dddd6 (lacks blank ¶1).
This second edition was revised by William Crashaw (1572-1626), father of the poet Richard Crashaw, and includes the commentary of Juan Luis Vives (first published in Basle, 1522), which Vives wrote at the suggestion of Erasmus.
"Fifteen years after Augustine wrote the Confessions, at a time when he was bringing to a close (and invoking government power to do so) his long struggle with the Donatists but before he had worked himself up to action against the Pelagians, the Roman world was shaken by news of a military action in Italy.
London: In Paules churche yarde at the sygne of the holy Ghost, by Ihon Cawoode, prynter to the Kynge and Quenes Maiesties, 1556
$30,000.00
Quarto: 20 x 14 cm. [A]4, B-Z4, Aa-Ff4 (blank Ff4 lacking)
Dedicated to Queen Mary Tudor, Coleville’s English translation of Boethius’ masterpiece is the only early English translation to include the original Latin text, indicating that, in addition to those readers with no knowledge of Latin, the author took into consideration the more educated, Latin-literate English audience. Coleville provides interesting marginal glosses and explanatory notes, including the tale of the sword of Damocles.
London: Printed by R. Bishop, for R[ichard]. B[est]. or his assignes, 1640
$9,600.00
17 x 11 cm. [48], 318, [8] p., [1] leaf of plates Collation: [A]1, a-c⁸, B-X⁸ (with blank X8), Y⁴
This copy conforms with Pforzheimer and lacks the bifolium “Postscript” (Z1-2) “Apparently supplementary and frequently wanting”(Grolier). It is found only in the Huntington and Harmsworth (Folger) copies in the U.S. Quire Y contains the poems "Menippus his Madrigall, to his coy-duck Clarabel” and “Loves Festivall at Lusts Funerall”.
London: printed for S. Illidge, under Searle’s Gate Lincolns-Inn New-Square: and sold by S. Ballard in Little-Britain, J. Graves in St. James’s-Street, and J. Walthoe over-against the Royal Exchange, 1716
$2,600.00
Octavo: 14.2 x 9 cm. [8], 151, [9] p. Engraved frontis. And 1 plate. Collation: A4, B-L8
“In Brathwaite’s most famous work, the theme of drunkenness and bawdiness is played out in what perhaps amounts to the world’s most celebrated pub crawl.”(Bowes) The titular character makes his way from town to town engaging in sexual escapades and multi-day benders.
Whether surrounded by thieves or threatened by bears (!), he continues his drunken escapades without fear (“No feare affrights deep drinkers”), with the alcohol providing a false sense of bravery and the alcoholism driving him on recklessly (although the experience with the bears does make him ‘wrong his bretches’).
London: Printed for Jo. Harris, at the Harrow, over against the Church in the Poultry, 1685
$15,500.00
Duodecimo: 14 x 8 cm. [8], 202 p. A4, B-I12, K7 (with the first blank. Lacking final blank).
Printed one year after the appearance of the second part of “The Pilgrim’s Progress” and in the same year that the Bedford magistrates ordered penal laws against nonconformists to be enforced, Bunyan’s “Discourse upon the Pharisee and the Publicane” is a fiery critique of the tyranny of the Church of England and of those among his readers who, like the residents of Vanity Fair and the Pharisee in the parable, prided themselves on superficial religiosity.
London: [by S. Mierdman] for Gwalter Lynne, dwellynge on Somers Keye, by Byllinges gate. And they are to be solde in Paules church yarde, nexte the great Schole, at the sygne of the sprede Egle, 1550
$10,900.00
Quarto: 19 x 12.7 cm. [8], cclxv, cclxvii-cclxxix, [13] leaves. Collation: *8, A-X8, Z8, Aa-Oo8, Pp4, (lacking blank leaf Nn8)
This is the first edition in English of the work known as “Carion’s Chronicle”, translated by Walter Lynne and dedicated to Edward VI. The work was first conceived of and written by Johann Carion (1499-1537/8), Professor of Mathematics in the University of Frankfurt am Oder, and for a time, court astrologer to Joachim I, Elector of Brandenburg. Carion sent the work to Philip Melanchthon for editing and correction.
There were two series of woodcut illustrations used in 15thand 16thc. editions of the "Canterbury Tales": one by William Caxton, used in his 1483 edition, in 1498 by Wynkyn de Worde, and the 1532 and 1542 editions of the "Works". The second set, modeled on Caxton's, was made for Richard Pynson's 1492 edition of the "Tales". For the second Pynson edition (1526), some of the original 1492 blocks were used while others were re-cut on new blocks.
Pforzheimer 176; ESTC S107206 (STC 5075); Langland to Wither, 42; Literature: E.P. Hammond, Chaucer, p. 119-122; David Carlson, "Woodcut Illustrations of the Canterbury Tales, 1483-1602", The Library, Vol. s6-19, Issue 1 (1 March, 1997), pages 25-67; David Carlson, "Woodcut Illustrations in Early Printed Editions of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales", in Chaucer Illustrated: Five Hundred Years of The Canterbury Tales in Pictures; Joe Dane, "Press-Variants in John Stow's Chaucer (1561) and the Text of Adam Scriveyn" (with Seth Lerer). Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society 11 (1999): 468-79.
London: Printed for G. Kearsley, at Johnson’s Head, No. 46, Fleet-Street, 1788
$3,800.00
Octavo: 21 x 13 cm. pp. [ii], ii, 178, [18]. Collation: [A]2, B-Z4, A1. With an added engraved frontispiece of the Duchess, with breasts exposed "as she appeared at the Venetian Ambassador
Duchess of Kingston, granddaughter of the poet Mary Chudleigh (1656-1710), from whom “she seemed to have inherited no notable literary tastes or talents”(Rizzo) Elizabeth was notorious for her sexual escapades, daring, and profligacy. She studiously cultivated this image, referring to herself (in the third person) thus: “She was both wasteful and penurious; the most enormous sums were expended to gratify her love of display, at the same time that she refused to incur some trifling necessary expense in her household….
London: printed by W[illiam]. B[owyer]. for Bernard Lintott at the Middle Temple Gate in Fleetstreet, 1703
$15,000.00
Octavo: 19.5 x 12 cm. [16], 125, [17], 73, [1] pp. Collation: A-O8, P4
Mary Chudleigh was a friend of Elizabeth Thomas and an admirer of Mary Astell, with whom she corresponded and whose ‘Defence of the Female Sex’ she tried to emulate. Dedicated to Queen Anne, her ‘Poems on Several Occasions’ was widely noticed, achieving a second edition in 1709. The poems include a wide range of subjects, from lyrics and satires of the age of Dryden, to philosophical and more contemplative verse in keeping with the solitary and often melancholy life that she led in Devon.
Quarto: 18.5 x 14.5 cm. [20], 226 [2] p. Collation: *-**4, ***2, A-Z4, Aa-Ee4, Ff2
Provenance: Richard Clifton (1642-1664), son of Zachary Clifton (born 1589), and grandson of Richard Clifton, the author of the present work, with ownership inscriptions to front and rear of the volume. Zachary Clifton returned with his family to England in 1651 during the Commonwealth era, and died in 1671.
London: By Iohn Day, dwelling ouer Aldersgate, beneath Saint Martines, 1564
$16,000.00
Quarto: 18 x 13.5 cm. [8], 46, 49-689, [5] p. Collation: A4, B-C8, D8(-D8), E-I8, K8(-K6), L-Y8 2A-2X8, 2Y8 + [hand]Y4 (Leaves D8 and K6 are canceled, as intended.)
An important collection of writings by English Protestants, many of whom had been martyred, compiled and with a preface by Miles Coverdale. There are letters by Lady Jane Gray (1536/7-1554) (a letter written “to her syster the Ladye Katheryne, immediately before she suffered”), John Bradford (1510?-1555) (including a partial reprint of \"An exhortacion to the carienge of Chrystes crosse\", STC 3480.
London: In the Savoy, Printed by T.N. for Henry Herringman at the Blew Anchor in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange. 1670
$7,500.00
Octavo: [16], 112, 115-208, [2] p., [1] leaf of plates. Collation: A-O8 (O8 blank and present.) With an added, engraved frontispiece of the temple.
Along with Donne, Herbert and Marvell, Crashaw was one of the most important of the Metaphysical poets. "Compared with one another, Crashaw represents more of Donne's ecstasy, and Herbert more of his reason" (George Williamson). The son of a Puritan clergyman who eventually converted to Catholicism, Crashaw is best known for the intensity of his religious poetry.
London: printed by E[dward] M[ottershed], for Samuel Thomson at the Bishops head in Pauls Church-yard, 1658
$3,500.00
Quarto: 18 x 14 cm. [4], 36 pp. A2, B-E4, F2
“One of the surprisingly few sermons on Cromwell’s death to be published. [It] goes to a length in justifying the grand and stately funeral rites, suggesting nervousness that their propriety might be challenged.”(Holberton) The author is the clergyman George Lawrence, who probably served as an army chaplain during the Civil War and knew Cromwell. The sermon is dedicated to Cromwell’s son, Richard Cromwell.
London: Printed for A. Bell at the Cross-Keys and Bible in Cornhill; and sold by J. Baker at the Blak-Boy in Pater-Noster-Row, 1714
$1,500.00
Quarto: 20.3 x 15.5 cm. 28 p.
Widely attributed to Daniel Defoe. The pamphlet is a full-throated refutation of Jonathan Swift’s anti-Scottish slurs in his “Public Spirit of the Whigs”. “Defoe called the pamphlet a ‘foolish Lybel,’ ‘preposterous,’ and ‘plain Lyes,’ likened the author to a ravenous beast and a cruel monster, and challenged England to match the nobility and bravery of the Scots, especially on the field of battle.
London: Printed by J. Flesher, for Richard Marriot, and are to be sold at his shop in St Dunstans Church-yard under the Dyall. 1651
$15,000.00
Quarto: 20.3 x 15.1 cm. [5] (title page plus dedicatory epistle), 318 pp. Collation: A4 (with blank leaf A1) B-Z4, Aa-Ss4 (with blank leaf Ss4). With the added engraved portrait.
Provenance: This copy was once the property of the author and essayist Sir Thomas Pope Blount (1649-1697) and bears his familiar ms. note “Tittenhanger library” on the free endpaper. Blount inherited the Tittenhanger estate in Hertfordshire in 1678. In his “Essays on Several Subjects” (1692), Blount wrote: “If learning happens to be in the possession of a Fool, ‘tis then but a Bawble, and like Dr.
London: Printed by M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, and are to be sold at his shop in St Dunstans Church-yard in Fleet-street, 1639
$16,500.00
Octavo: 13.5 x 9.1 cm. [8], 300, [4], 301-388, [32] pp. A-Z8, Aa-Dd8. With the engraved frontispiece portrait.
“The poetry of Donne represents a sharp break with that written by his predecessors and most of his contemporaries. Much Elizabethan verse is decorative and flowery in its quality. Its images adorn; its meter is mellifluous. Image harmonizes with image, and line swells almost predictably into line. Donne’s poetry, on the other hand, is written very largely in conceits— concentrated images that involve an element of dramatic contrast, of strain, or of intellectual difficulty.
London: Printed [by Augustine Mathewes] for Thomas Iones, and are to be sold at the signe of the Black Rauen in the Strand, 1627
$20,000.00
Duodecimo: 13.8 x 8.4 cm. [8], 589, [1] p. A-Z12 (lacks blank A1); Aa-Bb12
“[The ‘Devotions’] present a more vivid and intimate picture of Donne than anything else written by himself or others.” –Sparrow
“Donne’s ‘Devotions’ is the source of the author’s famous meditation on the interconnectedness of all human lives: ‘No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;… any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.
