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Edinburgh, Printed in the Year MDCCXI, 1711, First Edition. Half leather binding, gilt titles to the spine, marbled paper covered boards, rubbed and worn externally, manuscript ownership inscription to the title page bearing name George Lessly and with manuscript notes in the same hand to verso of final leaf, few leaves cropped at head with loss of some page numbers, toning, some light dust-soiling and scattered spotting, armorial bookplate of George Yule to front pastedown, slim 4to. James Kirkwood (fl. 1698) was a Scottish teacher and grammarian. Kirkwood was born near Dunbar. In May 1674 he was acting as tutor ("governour") to Lord Bruce at Glasgow College, where he lodged for some time with Gilbert Burnet. In the same year he was offered by Sir Robert Milne of Barntoun, provost of Linlithgow, the mastership of the school there, and eventually accepted in 1675. After 15 years, he quarrelled with the magistrates, was dismissed, and litigation ensued. Kirkwood got the better of his employers, who were mulcted in damages to the extent of four thousand merks for forcibly ejecting him and his wife a Dutch lady, Goletine van Beest from their house, and throwing his books and papers and Mrs. Kirkwood's furniture into the street. Kirkwood left Linlithgow and went, in March 1690, to Edinburgh, where he lived for a year without employment. He then started a school for gentlemen's sons. He states that he later refused the professorship of humanity in the University of St Andrews, a call to Duns, another call to be professor of Greek and Latin at Jamestown, Virginia, the mastership of the free school at Kimbolton, and of a free school in Ireland. He also states that he was invited to return to Linlithgow school. Subsequently Kirkwood became, on the invitation of the Countess of Roxburgh, master of the school at Kelso. Here he was again involved in serious difficulties. Kirkwood died before 1720, probably at Kelso. Kirkwood published an account of the Linlithgow litigation in A Short Information of the Plea betwixt the Town Council of Lithgow and Mr. James Kirkwood, Schoolmaster there, whereof a more full account may perhaps come out hereafter (1690). Among other charges brought against Kirkwood was that he was "a reviler of the gods of the people". "By gods", says Kirkwood, "they mean the twenty-seven members of the town council". Many years later he published The History of the Twenty Seven Gods of Linlithgow; Being an exact and true Account of a Famous Plea betwixt the Town-Council of the said Burgh, and Mr. Kirkwood, Schoolmaster there. Seria Mixta Jocis, Edinburgh, 1711 . It was dedicated to Sir David Dalrymple, whose elder brother, the "Earl of Stair", says the author, "not only sent his son, the present earl, to my school at Lithgow, but tabled him in my house". The work contains details of the social and religious state of affairs during the contention for supremacy between the Presbyterian and Prelatic parties. Pagination: viii,79,[1] pp. Provenance: inscriptions for George Lessly to the title and rear end paper, and a bookplate for George Yule to the front paste down. Approximately 7 ¼ inches (18.5cm) tall. Condition Report Externally Spine fair to good condition gilt titles to the spine, rubbed and worn. Joints good condition rubbed and worn. Corners good condition bumped and worn with some loss to the leather. Boards good condition half leather with marbled boards, worn and marked. Page edges good condition all edges slightly darkened. See above and photos. Internally Hinges good condition sound. Paste downs good condition new paste down. End papers good condition more recent end papers. Title good condition tanned, heavily inscribed, sained to the top right hand corner. Pages good condition tanned and foxed, page numbers cropped. See photos.
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