Rochester and Other Literary Rakes of the Court of Charles II. With Some Account of Their Surroundings; With Portraits

Extra illustrations. Red 3/4 leather binding with cloth-covered boards. Gilt lettering to spine. Top edge gilt. Red and green marbled endpapers. 6" x 8 3/4." 332 pages, complete. Fifteen black-and-white plates, complete. Fifteen plates are named in the List of Illustrations. Fourteen extra black-and-white plates included. Pages and covers are very clean and intact. Binding is tight. Pages have some age toning. Offsetting on title page from facing frontispiece. A few spots of discoloration on verso of title page. Covers have slight wear to front and back outer joints and edges. A few scratches on back cover. A Very Good, almost Near Fine copy. A comprehensive book about the court of King Charles II. Emphasis is on John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647-1680) and his writings, but works by the king's other "favorites" are also included. Rochester, although marked by a lifestyle of debauchery, like Charles II and the rest of the court, was also well-known for his satirical writings and became an inspiration for contemporaries and future writers. He is best-known for authoring A Satyr (Satire) Against Reason and Mankind (c. 1674). Rochester also wrote a satire that lampooned Charles II and his rakish behavior, A Satyr on Charles II, and infamously presented it to the king himself. Other historical figures who are discussed in this book include the Duke of York, Earl of Roscommon, Duke of Lauderdale, Count Grammont, Elizabeth Mallet, and John Dryden. The following is an excerpt from the Preface: "Politics and history, properly so called, have no place, and will receive no notice in these pages. The subject of those pages, it must be admitted, is not very important; but side-lights, however insignificant, have their uses, and it may be that this particular side-view of the Court of Charles II, has been hitherto somewhat neglected.".…