The New Help to Discourse: or, Wit and Mirth intermixed with more serious matters. Consisting of Pleasant, Philosophical, Physical, Historical, Moral, and Political Questions and Answers. With Proverbs, Epitaphs, Epigrams, Riddles, Posies, Rules for Behaviour, &c. With several Wonders and Varieties; particularly a concise History of all the Kings of England from the Norman Conquest, down to King George I. Together, With Directions for the true Knowledge of several Matters concerning Astronomy, Holy-Days, and Husbandry, in a plain Method. By W.W. Gent.

[WINSTANLEY, WILLIAM].

Published by Dublin: Printed by Richard Cross, Bridge-Street, 1799.

179, [1]pp., 18mo. First and last couple of leaves with small and expert marginal repairs, some browning and minor staining from the poor paper, but a sound an attractive copy in period-style calf, spine gilt, by Philip Dusel. "Eleventh Edition," but apparently the first Dublin printing of this compendium, usually attributed to William Winstanley and first published in London in 1669. It proved popular, with a Boston edition printed by James Franklin in 1722, and a ninth London edition in 1733. Although parts of the book offer such things as the chronology of kings and tables of distances, coins and weights, most of it is pure entertainment. An especially good section towards the end gives an account of the Canting Tongue and those who speak it: eighteen sorts of the Male kind, and "only these seven several Sorts" of Women: "1. Glymmers. 2. Bawdy-Baskets. 3. Autem Morts. 4. Walking Morts. 5. Doxies. 6. Dels. 7. Kynchin Morts." All twenty-five sorts, male and female, are fully and often frighteningly defined. ESTC locates two copies, National Library of Ireland, and Princeton. OCLC and COPAC add reproductions. Seller Inventory # 12851

Bibliographic Details

Title: The New Help to Discourse: or, Wit and Mirth...
Publisher: Dublin: Printed by Richard Cross, Bridge-Street, 1799.
Binding: Hardcover
Edition: 1st Edition