DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD

[MONTAGU]. [ LYTTELTON, George, First Baron]

Published by W. Sandby, London, 1760

About this Item

8vo, pp. viii, 320. Printer's device on title-page and woodcut head and tail pieces throughout. Bound in contemporary sprinkled calf (hinges repaired with binder's tape), some light toning, o/w a very good copy. Rothschild 1340n; Eddy, A Bibliography of John Brown # 133; CBEL, I. p. 321; Lowndes p. 1427. Of this work, Lowndes quotes Dr. Johnson as saying:" The man sat down to write a book, to tell the world what the world had all his life been telling him." Printed by novelist Samuel Richardson, this witty satire on moral and literary life characterized conversationalist Elizabeth Montagu's Mayfair salon. Montague herself wrote a portion of the text. This was very popular with three printings in 1760 alone. George Lyttelton (1709-1773) First Baron Lyttelton was educated at Eton and Oxford and served in Parliament. The DNB notes that Lyttelton was known as an amiable and absent minded man of unimpeachable integrity and benevolent character. In fact he served as a model of "distinguished inattention and awkwardness" and a warning for Lord Chesterton's son. He was known as an industrious but never original writer by his contemporaries. Essayist and Shakespearean critic, Elizabeth Montagu (1720-1800), was also a prolific letter writer. With the death of her husband, Elizabeth Montagu took the opportunity to travel and offer financial assistance to the likes of Sarah Fielding, Hester Chapone and Hannah More. She was very close to Elizabeth Carter and at one point the two women made plans to retire together. She proposed the establishment of a female college, and in 1767 she and her sister were working on a plan to establish a home for unmarried gentlewomen. The center of the Bluestockings, Montagu "created a forum for social, literary, artistic, and intellectual interests. The Bluestockings looked to one another for intellectual support, and in their self-sufficiency demonstrated the strengths of womanly community. Through her Bluestocking parties, Montagu brought together women and men of diverse backgrounds, interests, and beliefs to share ideas." She contributed three dialogues for this work "with the delightful `dialogue between Mercury and a modern fine lady` influenced by Elizabeth Carter's Modish Pleasures"[Schleuter, An Encyclopaedia of British Women Writers p. 332.]. Seller Inventory # 20613

Bibliographic Details

Title: DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD

Publisher: W. Sandby, London

Publication Date: 1760

Edition: First edn.