Item #119613 An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times. By the Author of Essays on the Characteristics, &c. John BROWN.
An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times. By the Author of Essays on the Characteristics, &c
An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times. By the Author of Essays on the Characteristics, &c

An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times. By the Author of Essays on the Characteristics, &c

London, Printed for L. Davis and C. Reymers, 1757 [first edition].

Octavo, 222 (last blank), [2] (integral leaf of publisher's advertisements) pages, with the title page printed in red and black.

Early speckled calf, spine gilt in compartments (now lacking the original title-label); all edges sprinkled red; covers slightly worn at the edges; front joint beginning to split at the head, with slight loss to the head of the spine; endpapers browned around the edges by the leather turn-ins; very occasional light spots of foxing; a very good copy (internally in excellent condition).

The first edition of this popular satire against the 'vain, luxurious and selfish effeminacy of England's higher ranks, in the wake of the loss of Minorca to the French at the opening of the Seven Years' War' (ODNB). This work earned Brown considerable fame, and within a year of publication it had been reprinted a dozen times.

This copy is inscribed in ink on the front flyleaf 'From the Author', and has the armorial bookplates of R. Mitford ('God Careth For Us'), and 'Biliotheca Antiqua Domus Osbaldeston de Hunmanby, Com. Ebor'.

D.D. Eddy: 'A Bibliography of John Brown' #42. The printer's records indicate an edition of 1000 copies.

Item #119613

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