LETTERS WRITTEN BY THE LATE RIGHT HONOURABLE PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE, EARL OF CHESTERFIELD,TO HIS SON, Philip Stanhope, Esq; Late Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Dresden:Together with Several Other Pieces on Various Subjects. Published by Mrs. Eugenia Stanhope From the Originals.[With,] MISCELLANEOUS WORKS OF THE LATE PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE, EARL OF CHESTERFIELD: Consisting of Letters to his Friends, Never Before Printed, and Various Other Articles. To Which are Prefixed, Memoirs of His Life.[With,] MISCELLANEOUS WORKS OF THE LATE PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE, EARL OF CHESTERFIELD; Consisting of Letters, Political Tracts, and Poems. Volume the Third; completing The Edition of his Lordship s Works, began by Dr. Maty. Collected, arranged, and re

Stanhope Philip Dormer [Earl of Chesterfield]

Published by London fPrinted for J. Dodsley; Printed for Edward and Charles Dilley; Printed by and for T. Sherlock 1774; 1777; 1778

About this Item

5 volumes. The First Edition of All Five Volumes. Presentation Copy From Mrs. Stanhope, the Publisher, with the inscription of the recipient and initials. Complete with all half-titles called for. Engraved portrait frontispiece in the first volume. 4to, very handsomely bound at the time in fine straight-grain red morocco over original gray paper covered boards, with elaborate gilt rules separating the compartments, two of which are lettered in gilt, the covers with gilt rules at the turnovers and joins. [4], vii, 568; [4], 606, [2 errata]; vii, [1], 342, [2 Errata], 293, [1], [1]; [4]. [1], [588]; [xi], 204 pp. A very handsome set of these iconic writings and including the very rare third volume of the Miscellanies, beautifully preserved with some very occasional foxing or browning RARE PRESENTATION COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION OF ALL FIVE VOLUMES OF THE LETTERS AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS, INCLUDING THE VERY SCARCE AND SELDOM SEEN THIRD VOLUME OF THE MISCELLANIES, STILL IN THEIR ORIGINAL REGENCY PERIOD BINDINGS. Lord Stanhope assumed his seat in the House of Lords and became the 4th Earl of Chesterfield in 1726 upon the death of his father. The new Lord Chesterfield's inclination towards oration, often seen as ineffective in the House of Commons because of its polish and lack of force, was met with appreciation in the House of Lords, and won many to his side. In 1728, under service to the new king, George II, Chesterfield was sent to the Hague as ambassador, where his gentle tact and linguistic dexterity served him well. As a reward for his diplomatic service, Chesterfield received the Order of the Garter in 1730, the position of Lord Steward, and the friendship of Robert Walpole. While a British envoy in the Hague, he helped negotiate the second Treaty of Vienna (1731), which signaled the collapse of the Anglo-French Alliance, and the beginning of the Anglo-Austrian Alliance. In 1732, Madelina Elizabeth du Bouchet, a French governess, gave birth to his illegitimate son, Philip for whose advice on life Chesterfield wrote the Letters to his Son. The letters, over 400 of them are elegant in their style and instructive in the methodology. The Earl of Chesterfield is remembered to this day for his evocative and sensitive words, his fine manners and his cosmopolitan life. Upon the death of the Earl, Eugenia Stanhope, the impoverished widow of Chesterfield's illegitimate son, Philip Stanhope, published the book of Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774). It is comprised of a thirty-year correspondence in more than 400 letters. Begun in 1737 and continued until the death of his son in 1768, Chesterfield wrote mostly instructive communications about geography, history, and classical literature, with later letters focusing on politics and diplomacy, and the letters themselves were written in French, English and Latin to refine his son's grasp of the languages. As a handbook for worldly success in the 18th century, the Letters to His Son give perceptive and nuanced advice for how a gentleman should interpret the social codes that are manners: ". However frivolous a company may be, still, while you are among them, do not show them, by your inattention, that you think them so; but rather take their tone, and conform in some degree to their weakness, instead of manifesting your contempt for them. There is nothing that people bear more impatiently, or forgive less, than contempt; and an injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult. If, therefore, you would rather please than offend, rather be well than ill spoken of, rather be loved than hated; remember to have that constant attention about you which flatters every man's little vanity; and the want of which, by mortifying his pride, never fails to excite his resentment, or at least his ill will." Interestingly, Samuel Johnson respected the Earl's great literary and intellectual skills so completely that he wished him deeply involved in the project tha.

Seller Inventory # 31627

Bibliographic Details

• Title: LETTERS WRITTEN BY THE LATE RIGHT HONOURABLE PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE, EARL OF CHESTERFIELD,TO HIS SON, Philip Stanhope, Esq; Late Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Dresden:Together with Several Other Pieces on Various Subjects. Published by Mrs. Eugenia Stanhope From the Originals.[With,] MISCELLANEOUS WORKS OF THE LATE PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE, EARL OF CHESTERFIELD: Consisting of Letters to his Friends, Never Before Printed, and Various Other Articles. To Which are Prefixed, Memoirs of His Life...
• Publisher: London fPrinted for J. Dodsley; Printed for Edward and Charles Dilley; Printed by and for T. Sherlock 1774; 1777; 1778
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)