ESSAYS, LETTERS, AND POEMS.

8vo in fours, pp. xxxii, 359, 362-464; text continuous despite the jump at p. 359 (see below); some waterstains on title and first few leaves,and also at end; contemporary half calf, a little worn, but sound. First and only edition: this collection appears to have been published at Rack's own risk, and is preceded by a substantial subscription list. Amongst the subscribers are many Norfolk gentry and nobility (Walpoles and Townshends among them), and agricultural reformers such as Arthur Young. Edmund Rack (c. 1735-87) was from a Quaker weaving family of Norfolk, but took an interest in literature, agriculture and other subjects, and contributed to magazines under the name of Eusebius. In the mid-1770s he settled in Bath and some of his later works were on agricultural reform; he also made topographical collections for the history of Somerset. The poems here include 'The Banks of the Avon' (written in 1779: pp. 79-82), ' The Cell of Contemplation' (1770: pp. 216-224), 'The Temple of Fancy' (pp. 377-390), and odes to Melancholy, to Spring and other subjects. In Bath, he helped to found the Bath Philosophical Society. The jump in pagination at p. 359 must be deliberate, and arises from the cancellation of leaves 2Z4 and 3A1, with a single leaf substituted in their stead. This is not noticed by ESTC, and is perhaps not present in all copies.…