Miscellanies in Prose and Verse (The First Volume; The Second Volume; The Last Volume)

Swift, Jonathan; Pope, Alexander.

Published by London: Printed for Benjamin Motte, 1727-1728.

Three volumes. First edition thus, with a preface by Swift and Pope. Contemporary full brown calf, spines lettered in gilt, red labels to spines, and red speckled edges. Good set, with heavy flaking to calf, spine ends lightly chipped, some wear to corners, some rubbing to edges, a bit of loss to spine label on Vol. I (lettering very minimally affected), dampstaining to pp. 32-144 and 222-305 in Vol. I and margins of Vol. II's title page and table of contents page, and just some light spotting and soiling to interiors otherwise. Overall, a sturdy and unrestored set, in a contemporary binding. Miscellanies is a collaborative work by satirists Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, mathematician John Arbuthnot, and poet John Gay, the most prominent members of the Scriblerus Club. The Club was formed in 1714, but most of their writings did not appear in print until decades later. As explained in the preface in Vol. I, Swift and his friends decided to publish their writings due to the fault of "some booksellers" (they even name one: "especially one Edmund Curll", who stole and published manuscripts from Swift, Pope, and Gay). Miscellanies contains satirical essays like Swift's "Meditation on a Broomstick" and "The Art of Political Lying," Pope's "The Art of Sinking in Poetry," Arbuthnot's "Law is a Bottomless Pit. Or, the History of John Bull," and many other notable essays, epistles, excerpts, and poems. Seller Inventory # JSW008

Bibliographic Details

Title: Miscellanies in Prose and Verse (The First ...
Publisher: London: Printed for Benjamin Motte, 1727-1728.
Binding: Hard Cover
Condition: Good
Edition: First Edition.