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FIRST EDITION. Library stamps on title which is a little browned and with sl. tear to inner margin, not affecting text, repaired with archival tape. Library binding: 20thC plain brown cloth. With library stamps & label. Five copies only on Copac, including BL where it is described as 'a collection of articles and exercises, separately published and variously dated, with a new general titlepage prefixed'. By the radical thinker, political agitator, abolitionist, and anti-war campaigner, John Thelwall, 1764-1834. Thelwall was born in London, the son of a silk merchant. His father died when he was young, and his education was still far from complete when he was compelled to leave school and contribute to the running of the family business. He appears to have shown little desire for a career in the silk trade, and was instead drawn to literature and the arts. The French Revolution took place as he was forging his political identity, and he was immediately drawn towards the politics of upheaval, and railed against social injustice. He became a prominent dissenting voice in the late 18th century, popular with radicals for his passionate and persuasive oration. Thelwall was moved to withdraw from radical politics as a result of Pitt the Younger's clampdown on political dissent, which came in the form of the Treason Act and Seditious Meetings Act, both given royal ascent in 1795. He judiciously chose to curb his more firebrand tendencies, moving away from direct criticism of the government, and instead lecturing on apparently safer topics such as corruption in Ancient Rome. But by 1800, unable to escape the attentions of ever-watchful government loyalists, Thelwall withdrew completely from the public eye, and instead re-invented himself as a Professor of Elocution, establishing, with the help of his wife, a small school in London. This volume, comprised of three separately published works bound together with a new titlepage and contents leaf, forms a prospectus for Thelwall's institution, as well as providing an overview of his educational philosophy, and providing the student with readily available exercises. This is a modified version of the 1811 edition, with the Plan & Objects occupying 15pp (rather than 32pp), and signed Feb. 12th, 1813. It does not include the Terms of Instruction for House Pupils. The second part (168pp, with an 1805 titlepage, The Trident of Albion), is as the earlier edition. The third part (11pp) is formed of Thelwall's Monody on the Right Hon. Charles James Fox (2nd edn, 1806). In addition, this volume has several further tracts bound in at the end, each with the running head 'Thelwall's Selections', but with no further imprint or date. These consist of The Country Bumpkin and Razor Seller. P. Pindar. 2pp; Martial Eloquence. Henry V. before Harfleur. Shakespere [sic]. 2pp; A Consultation of Physicians. (From the New Bath Guide.) Anstey. 3pp; Sawney's Pocket Knife. A memoir for the antiquarian society. 4pp; The Washing-Day. Mrs Barbauld. 4pp. Some of the passages have been marked in black, indicating precise points of stress or rhythm.
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