Poems in Two Volumes

[Colonial Subscribers] Churchill, C. [Charles]

Published by London, 1768

About this Item

Vol. I: Containing: The Rosciad. The Apology. Night. The Prophecy of Famine. An Epistle to William Hogarth. and The Ghost in Four Books. Vol. II: Containing: The Conference. The Author. The Duellist. Gotham, in Three Books. The Candidate. The Farewell. The Times. Independence. And Fragment of Journey. Octavo. [4], 369, [1]; [4], 330, [2], lvi (subscribers) pp. Later edition. In early if not contemporary calf-backed, paper over boards binding. Spines and joints worn, though stable; boards are heavily rubbed on the surface and edges; light foxing but generally a clean set. This copy with the contemporary armorial bookplate of Charles Gordon of Buthlaw. Gordon's name in ink on the title page as well. Gordon, like his father, Thomas Gordon, appeared to have been an absentee-enslaver. He owned the Georgia Estate in Trelwany, Jamaica and became wealthy from Jamaican sugar. An additional owner name of Carrie Hill Davis in ink on the front free endpaper. Davis appeared to have graduated from the University of Virginia after the turn of the 20th century. This collection was originally issued by Churchill in 1763 and went into numerous editions thereafter, particularly energized by his death in 1764. This edition has the distinction of being the first with a lengthy subscribers list, presumed to have been printed for the American publisher James Rivington. This London imprint as well as the Rivington edition of the same year (Evans 41875) both are made up from sheets of the third edition (1766) with new titles pages and the subscribers list. While the list of subscribers runs from New England to Florida as well as Caribbean islands, there is an evident outside representation from Maryland and Virginia. Notables in Virginia include George Washington, Col. Henry Lee (father of Light-Horse Harry Lee), Richard Bland, John Randolph. A quick skim shows notables from Pennsylvania: Richard Bache (Benjamin Franklin's son-in-law), William Allen, Richard and John Penn. And uncommon list of Who's Who in Colonial America. ESTC N21113.

Seller Inventory # 9673

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Poems in Two Volumes
• Publisher: London
• Publication Date: 1768
• Binding: Quarter Leather
• Condition: near Good binding
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature and Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Rare Book Room