Antiquarian General Literature. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS CATALOGUE, File A: Antiquarian General Literature. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
A set of the original quarto issues of Young’s ‘Night-Thoughts’.
[YOUNG (Edward).]. [The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts On Life, death, & immortality. Night the first. Humbly inscrib’d To the Right Honourable Arthur Onslow, Esq; Speaker of the House of Commons. The Second [i.e., first quarto] edition. London: Printed for R. Dodsley, at Tully’s Head in Pall-mall, 1742 (Price One Shilling.)]. Demy 4to; half-title not called for; separate title leaf to Night the First either discarded by the binder or, more probably, suppressed by the publisher (v. note) in favour of the (cancel) general title (v. Night the Seventh), which is here followed as intended by the single leaf Preface (v. Night the Fourth), both single insets, as also is D1 (the original A1 being the title and D4 an advertisement leaf (blank on verso), here discarded); [ - ]1, [--]1, A3 ex 4, B - C4, D3 ex 4; pp.[ii]+ii+[3] - 30. BOUND WITH: Night the Second. On Time, Death, Friendship. Humbly inscrib’d To the Right Honourable The Earl of Wilmington. London: Printed for R. Dodsley, at Tully’s Head in Pall-Mall, and T. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-Noster-Row, 1742. Demy 4to; bound up without the half-title (which carried the price ‘One Shilling’ at the foot); [A]3 ex 4, B - E4, F2; pp.[iii] - 44. BOUND WITH: Night the Third. Narcissa. Humbly Inscrib’d to her Grace The Duchess of P------. London: Printed for R. Dodsley, at Tully’s Head in Pall-Mall, and T. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-Noster-Row, 1742. Demy 4to; bound up without the half-title (which carried the price ‘One Shilling’ at the foot), but also lacking the final leaf of text, which appears to have been discarded in error along with its conjugate, the terminal blank; A3 ex 4, B - D4, E2 lacking; [iii] - 32 (ex 34 + [ii]) .BOUND WITH: [The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts On Life, death, & immortality. London: Printed for R. Dodsley, at Tully’s Head in Pall-mall; And sold by M. Cooper, in Pater-noster-Row, 1743. (Price One Shilling and Sixpence.)] [Fly-title:] Night the Fourth. The Christian Triumph. Containing Our only Cure for the Fear Of Death, And Proper Sentiments of Heart on that Inestimable Blessing. Humbly inscribed to the Honourable Mr. York. Demy 4to; half-title not called for; bound up without the general title (v. note); single leaf Preface moved, as intended, to front of volume, this and the original title forming gathering ‘A’; fly-title precedes start of text, serving as title-page; [A]1 ex 2, [B] - G4; pp.[ii (ex iv)]+47+[i (Dodsley’s Proposal for an edition of Elizabethan plays)]. BOUND WITH: The Complaint. Or, Night-Thoughts On Life, death, & immortality. Night the fifth. London: Printed for R. Dodsley at Tully’s-Head in Pall-Mall, and Sold by M. Cooper at the Globe in Pater-Noster-Row, 1743. [Fly-title:] Night the fifth. The Relapse. Humbly inscrib’d To the Right Honourable The Earl of Litchfield. Demy 4to; lacking the integral engraved frontispiece; title followed by fly-title with fifteen entry errata on verso headed Advertisement; last two leaves a separate half-sheet, here printed on slightly smaller paper; A3 ex 4, B - G4, H2; pp.[3] - 60. BOUND WITH: Night the Sixth. The Infidel Reclaim’d. In two parts. Containing, The Nature, Proof, and Importance Of Immortality. Part the first. Where, among other things, Glory, and Riches, Are particularly consider’d. Humbly Inscrib’d to the Right Honourable Henry Pelham, First Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, and Chancellor of the Exchequer. London: Printed for R. Dodsley, at Tully’s Head in Pall-mall [sic], 1744. Demy 4to; bound up without the half-title (which carried the price ‘One Shilling’ at the foot), and the terminal integral advertisement leaf (advertising Dodsley’s Collection of Old Plays in ten volumes, plus two supplementary ones); [A]3 ex 4, B - F4, G1 ex 2; pp.[2 (lacking)]+v+[i (blank)]+42+[ii (lacking)]. BOUND WITH: The Complaint. Or, Night-Thoughts On Life, Death, and Immortality. London: Printed for G. Hawkins, at Milton’s Head, between the Two Temple-Gates, Fleet-street [sic], near Temple-Bar. And Sold by M. Cooper, at the Globe, in Pater-noster Row [sic], 1744. [Fly-title:] Night the Seventh. Being the Second part Of the Infidel Reclaimed. Containing The Nature, Proof, and Importance, Of Immortality. Demy 4to; the title has been bound up at the front of the volume, cancelling the title to Night the Fourth which is usually found there and bears Dodsley’s name [v. note]; the fly-title is followed by three pages of Preface and a page of Contents; leaf B2 on slightly smaller paper (v. note); [A], B - I, K4; pp.[viii]+72. BOUND WITH: The Complaint. Or Night-Thoughts On Life, Death, and Immortality. Night the Eighth. Virtue’s Apology: Or, The Man of the World Answer’d. In which are Considered [sic], The Love of This Life; The Ambition and Pleasure, with the Wit and Wisdom of the World. London: Printed for G. Hawkins, at Milton’s Head, between the Two Temple- Gates, Fleet-street [sic], near Temple-Bar. And Sold by M. Cooper, at the Globe, in Pater-noster Row [sic], 1745. Demy 4to; half- or fly- title not called for; [A]1, B - I4, K3; pp.[ii]+70. BOUND WITH: The Consolation. Containing, among Other Things, I. A Moral Survey of the Nocturnal Heavens. II. A Night-Address to the Deity. To which are Annex’d Some Thoughts, Occasioned by the Present Juncture: Humbly Inscribed [sic] To His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, One of His Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State. London: Printed for G. Hawkins, at Milton’s Head [sic], between the Two Temple- Gates, Fleet-street [sic], near Temple-Bar. And Sold by M. Cooper, at the Globe, in Pater-noster Row [sic], 1745 [i.e., 1746]. Demy 4to; printed Note recording erratum on verso of title; half- or fly- title not called for; bound up without the Annex’d Thoughts (a poem printed in italics concerned with political issues of the day) and with a leaf of plain paper pasted over the verso of the final leaf on which it starts; A1, B - I, K - Q4 (R - S4 lacking); pp.[ii]+119+[i (blanked out: ex 146)]. Early nineteenth century full natural calf, ruled and tooled gilt borders to sides, spine fairly elaborately tooled gilt, black lettering-piece, edges burnished brown; marbled end-papers. Calf a little stained, worn slightly at corners, and cracked over joints, but end-papers and cords sound; a little scattered light foxing internally, more or less confined to margins of Dodsley sections, and last few leaves; a few symbols in text and related neat ink notes on lower margins in a contemporary hand, and unnoted errata corrected in ink in final part (v. note); leaf B3 in part two slightly frayed and dusty at fore-margin; old repair to short tear in (lightly trimmed) fore-margin of F3 in part six, without loss of text; otherwise, and in general a nice copy.
GB £710.00
US $1,136.00
First quarto edition of Night the First (which originally appeared in folio earlier the same year, with no indication that it was to be continued: i.e., it was not designated ‘Night the First’), first edition of the rest. The first quarto edition of Night the First is distinguished by the presence of line numbers not present in later printings or later Nights. The general title as here present was that issued with Night the Seventh, being printed when Hawkins took over the sponsorship of the work from Dodsley, and the printing was taken over by Samuel Richardson - the change of printer attested by the change of typography, etc. for that and the later parts, which all bear Hawkins’ name (Sale, 323, 332, and 333). The title-page to Night the First is likely to have been suppressed in part for the same reason: there would otherwise have been a clash of imprints within the first three leaves - though it is noticeable that the missing titles and fly-titles here are all those on which prices were printed. Night the First is the issue with press figure ‘1’ on pp.4, 15, and 18, and ‘2’ on pp. 12, 20, and 26, with ‘First’ in the drop-head to p.[3] in large and small caps., and the head-piece centred by a bowl of fruit (Foxon, Y26), rather than the issue with the press-figure ‘1’ on p.14 (and no others), with ‘First’ in the drop-head all in large caps. (as in all other declared printings examined through till at least the fifth), and with the head-piece centred by a wheat-sheaf (Foxon, Y25). Night the Third exhibits the first state of leaf A4r, with the misprint ‘merry’ for ‘mazy’ (Foxon, Y36). (There are two further states of this leaf, one with the corrected text on a cancel, and the other with it integral). The Preface, which is here bound in, as intended, at the front of the volume, but which was issued as A2 of Part the Fourth, is here the uncommon variant in which the type-ornaments at the head and end of the text are centred on a face (Foxon Y44). Foxon does not note other differences, for instance that the ‘C’ in the drop-head ‘Preface’ is complete, and there is no comma present after ‘Reader’ in l.4 on p.ii features which lead us to suspect this of being an early state. In all other copies seen by us the ‘C’ has been broken and somewhat battered at the top edge, and the comma has been present (as it is in all later printings), whilst the head ornament has been centred on a wheatsheaf and the tail ornament on a basket of fruit (Foxon, Y43). Evidence of chain-lines seems to confirm that this Preface leaf is not a cancel. We have not examined the text of the present Night the Fourth as a whole for other variants, though it does have the misprint ‘stars’ for ‘starts’ at l.17 on p.5 that Foxon notes as found in most copies of either state. Night the Fifth exhibits the second state of A3v, as usual, with the Errata present - a few copies being known that have this page blank. Night the Sixth has the reading ‘formidale’ at l.7 on p.41, but this has been so in all copies examined; it exhibits, however, the revised state of this leaf, with the first three lines correctly ordered and the catchword reading ‘And,’ rather than ‘Whose’ as in the uncorrected state. In Night the Seventh, leaf B2 may have been added from another copy, or else may conceivably have been a cancel: it is on slightly smaller paper, has all edges trimmed, and bears the press numeral ‘6’ on verso - it’s only occurrence in this part (‘1’ occurs on pp.28, 38, and 56; ‘2’ on p.50; ‘3’ on pp.16 and (in one copy examined only, British Library 642. k. 4) 30; ‘4’ on p.22; and ‘5’ on pp.46 and 70). The Consolation has on the verso of the title leaf a note listing an erratum on p.13. It concludes: “There are other errors of less consequence which the Reader, if he pleases, may correct with his pen”! As Foxon notes, however, these corrections were made in ms. before the book was issued, and are usually found on pp.12 (‘Descended’ for ‘Descendeth’), 75 (comma inserted after ‘universal’), 129, 131, and 144 (not present in this copy). In addition, the present copy has a comma added in the same hand after ‘them’ in l.13 on p.96, a correction made to the ‘o’ of ‘God’ in l.1, p.102 (originally, perhaps, an ‘x’), whilst the erratum noted for p.13 has been corrected in the same hand as the footnotes added to the earlier parts. In this copy the title-page is of the variant in which the word ‘Address’ appears in Roman face (large and small caps.) rather than italics; and Q4 is a cancel on paper with slightly wider chain lines. It is not remarked by Foxon (who speculates thus, erroneously, of Night the Fifth), but the title to Night the Seventh is clearly a general title intended for use in a second volume by purchasers who have bound together the first four parts already, using the general title and Preface supplied with Night the Fourth, and like that, it is followed by a Preface intended to be transferred likewise to the start of the new volume. The removal of all the price-bearing leaves from the present copy (together with such distractions as a blank and two leaves of advertisements), and the use of the second general title at the start of the volume (the first admittedly had a price at the foot - but cancellation slips in such circumstances are not unheard-of!) may possibly suggest that the present copy was originally made up for sale as a volume, possibly by Hawkins/Young, more probably by Mary Cooper, at a time when she was no longer acting for Dodsley in the publication, using left over parts. (The objection that most parts had been reprinted at least once by 1744 would have validity only if it could be shown that the stock of first impression sheets had been entirely exhausted before each part was re-impressed: more probably, new parts were simply piled on top of a residue of the old, leaving the old ones to be used up last.) We would hypothesise, if this were the case, that the binding disintegrated somewhere about 1800 with loss of at least the frontispiece, and, probably, some leaves at the end of the final part, and that the rest, if this were so, were then discarded, leaving the volume containing only the complete Nine Nights. The other possible explanation that the frontispiece was lost together with the prelims. appears to us less likely in view of the fact that the first Preface is here present, and would have been bound in, conjugate with the original general title, before one of the other leaves that has been lost, and it would also fail to explain the systematic suppression of every leaf that bears a price. It is to be noted, however, that the work was reprinted without the additional poem, and that this also might provide an explanation of its omission here. CBEL. II, p.291; Foxon, Y26, Y32, Y36, Y44, Y47, Y49, Y50, Y52, Y54; May, ‘Henry Pettit Collection’ Bibliography, B64-5, B70-4, (Night the Third, first state not in collection), B88-9, B90-4, B95-8, B100-4, B105-9, B110-4.
Ref: ART817825
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ROBERT TEMPLE BOOKSELLERS CATALOGUE, File A: Antiquarian General Literature. All books first editions and first printings, except as stated.
[YOUNG (Edward).]. The Centaur Not Fabulous. In Five Letters to a Friend, On The Life in Vogue. London: Printed for A. Millar in the Strand; And R. and J. Dodsley in Pallmall. [sic] 1755. Post 8vo format (watermark indecipherable); half-title not called for; text-paper frontispiece; nine entry Errata on verso of title leaf; pp.[ii (frontispiece)]+[iii (title-page] - xvi+[ii (fly-title to first letter)]+378; [-]1 (frontispiece), [A]1, B9, C - I, K - U, X - Z, Aa - Bb8, Cc4, Dd1; later mottled half-calf, natural lettering-piece, marbled sides, spine with five raised bands. Old tape-mark to blank recto of frontispiece at extreme gutter; ink addition to first line on p.231 (v.note); a little scattered very light foxing; a nice large copy otherwise, with good margins in a sound and seviceable, but unlovely, binding.
GB £120.00
US $192.00
A fine prose work by the author of the celebrated ‘Night Thoughts’, ably reflecting his not inconsiderable skills, despite his then advancing years. Preacher, poet, dramatist, and satirist, Young was known to (and disliked by) Pope, Fielding, and Swift. The cause of their dislike was Young’s constant and extravagant praise to would-be patrons, his toadying often taking the form of odes. His abilities were admitted, nonetheless, even by his critics. Dr. Johnson noted that, with all his defects, he was a man of genius and a poet. He is particularly remembered for his gift for epigram, whilst as a poet he had a very remarkable influence especially outside of England. “Klopstock wrote a poem upon his death, and he was considered by other German writers to be superior to Milton.” - DNB. The present work is a diatribe against the constant pursuit of pleasure. In his dedication to an anonymous lady Young explains his title: “The Men of Pleasure, the licentious, and profligate, are the subject of these letters; and in such, as in the fabled Centaur, the Brute runs away with the Man: therefore I call them Centaurs. And farther, I call them Centaurs not fabulous, because by their scarce half-human conduct, and character, that enigmatical, and purely ideal figure of the Antients, is not unriddled only, but realized.” Rothschild, 2621; Straus, pp.354-5; May, Henry Pettit Collection Bibliography, B190. In this copy, as in that described by May, B3 is a single inset leaf, B9 is apparently not a cancel, though in some copies it is found tipped in on a stub, and B8 (bearing press-mark ‘7’) is also apparently integral, which in some copies it appears not to be. Rothschild does not note the peculiarities of gathering ‘B’, but does note that N1 and N2, R1 and R2, and U1 are cancels and that N2 and R2 are unsigned. All of these cancels are here present, as they were also in the May copy, and tipped onto stubs. R2, though not signed, bears the press-mark ‘2’. The volume was printed by Young’s friend, Samuel Richardson, and May notes that the ms. addition to p.131 was requested by Young in a letter dated 22 January 1755, whilst the cancellation of N1 and N2 is referred to in a letter dated 26 January. The book was published in early March.
Ref: ART818658
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