POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS …

JAMES, Nicholas.

Published by Truro: printed by Andrew Brice, 1742

About this Item

Small 8vo in fours (leaf size 153 x 94mm), pp. [xii], 148; contemporary calf, gilt, spine gilt (a little shaken, small piece chipped from the top of the spine, tape mark on lower cover). First edition: the first book printed in Truro, Cornwall. The printer Andrew Brice had established a press in Exeter in 1717, where he remained active for many years; his venture in Cornwall seems not to have been a success, as he produced nothing more of any substance, and printing did not resume there until the 1790s. Not much is known of the author of this charming little book, who was not even known to Kearly Wright in his West Country Poets (1896). The occasional poems include a series of verses composed on Christmas day, as well as 'The Complaints of Poverty', 'The Atheist', 'Composition of a Coxcomb', 'On the Fracture of a Tea-Dish', 'On the Execution of Netten, for the Murder of Lovid, of Tregony', and 'To His Book, about to be printed': The binder too (if I could start) Should on the cover show his art, The leaves their gilded splendor show, And on the back the letters glow. These with our modern dealers hit, Who think the lid displays the wit. (p. 126) This copy has no gilt edges, nor glowing letters on the spine but all the same, the modest and pleasant binding is clearly contemporary and may even be Cornish. The most substantial piece is a long poem on Cornish wrestling (pp. 21-40), a sport of great antiquity in the region, with a distinctive set of rules. An extract from 'The Complaints of Poverty' was included by Roger Lonsdale in his New Oxford Book of Eighteenth-century Verse (1984). Of particular interest is the 22-page list of subscribers at the end; most of the names are from Cornwall, and many have their professions appended. One name is added in manuscript, 'Mr. Wm. Hart, of St. Austle, Clock & Watch Maker'. The name 'Hext' written in a contemporary hand on the endpaper is surely an indication that this is the copy that was to be sent to the subscriber who is listed as 'Fran. John Hext, of Bodmin, Gent'. The last will of this man, who died in 1778, is in the PRO and shows that he left all his possessions to his wife Catherine: no mention is made of books. Foxon, p. 387. Seller Inventory # 23495

Bibliographic Details

Title: POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS …

Publisher: Truro: printed by Andrew Brice

Publication Date: 1742

Binding: Hardcover

Edition: 1st Edition