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[5], viii-ix, [2], 12-37, [1]p. 4to. Without half title & final ad. leaf, errata slip pasted at foot of final page. Titlepage a little dusty at margins. Disbound. ESTC T34738. An allegorical ode modelled on Collins's Ode on the Passions. In his preface Merry writes that: 'It is not my intention here to examine the propriety of Mr. Mason's opinion, upon the regularity of lyric poetry constituting its merit, I will only say, that though I respect his talents, I differ from him; because, I find the irregular ode to have been susceptible of the greatest beauties, and to have been employed with peculiar success by the best writers in the best languages'. In March 1789 The Town and Country Magazine commented: 'This is by far superior to most of our modern productions; though by no means perfect. The author affects his imagery, but rather dazzles than enlightens with the fire of his genius'. The Della Cruscans were a coterie of English poets formed in Italy in 1785, when Robert Merry, Bertie Greatheed, William Parsons and Hester Thrale Piozzi found themselves in Florence, 'idly enjoying the Italian sunshine' (British Satire, 142). Greatheed was a wealthy English landowner, who lived in Italy between 1783 and 1785, while Parsons had lived in Bath most of his life and was travelling through Italy in 1785. Hester Thrale was already a well-known intellectual by the time she married the Italian musician Gabriel Piozzi and moved to Florence in 1783, having written pieces for the St. James's Chronicle and about to publish her Glimpses of the Italian Society (1786). Robert Merry was to become the most famous member of the Della Cruscans; he had left England in 1784 to escape gambling debts and travelled for some years through Europe before settling in Florence. However, it was not until 1787, when Merry was invited to contribute to The World with poetical pieces, that the Della Cruscan vogue began to make significant headway in England. His first poem, 'The Adieu and Recall to Love', a sentimental piece on love's pleasures and pains, was published in June 1787 under the pseudonym of 'Della Crusca'. A fortnight later, The World published a poem in reply to Merry's piece, which was signed 'Anna Matilda'. From then on, Della Crusca and Anna Matilda started an idealised correspondence in the pages of The World and initiated a vogue for poetical contributions. [ref: Lord Byron and the Della Cruscans, S. Bordoni, Nottingham 2006]. Seller Inventory # 91631
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