Beschreibung:

Edward, Lord Herbert of CherburyHerbert's autobiography and Life of Henry VIII, with related letters, comprising:
i. The Life of Edward Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Written by himself. Strawberry Hill, 1764. PRESENTATION COPY, with manuscript note on dedication leaf ("The Gift of the Hon.ble Horatio Walpole Esq."), 4to (240 x 188 mm.), engraved folding portrait of Lord Herbert (based on Isaac Oliver's miniature), engraved title vignette depicting Strawberry Hill House, double-page engraved genealogical table, contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt in compartments with lettering-piece, folding portrait with tear along fold, some browning and dampstaining, upper cover detachedii. Autograph letter signed by Gerard Langbaine (1609-1658, Provost of Queen's College Oxford) to John Selden (1584-1654, jurist, legal scholar, and polymath, once hailed by John Milton as "the chief of learned men reputed in this land"), dated Queen's College, Oxford, 12 September 1648, initially concerning the bequest of the recently deceased Edward Herbert's library to Jesus College, Oxford (“This morning Doctor Mansill Principall of Jesus Coll: came and shewed me a Catalogue of those two boxes of books which they received last week from Sir Hen[ry] Herbert as the legacy of my lord of Cherbury. They did expect much more, my lord in his life time having several times professed his intention to bequeath his whole library to them: the Doctor desired me to present his service to you, & if it lay in your way to befriend them in this case; to that purpose he intends to cause a friend to wait upon you with a transcript of the catalogue..."), then touching upon a variety of scholarly topics including "the enquiry after Vitruvius MS.", the "dreme against Timotheus Miletius mention'd in Boethius", and the academic commentary of Joseph Scaliger, 3pp on 2 leaves, first leaf folded, second leaf with small tear from removal of wax seal affecting signatureiii. Letter signed by Edward Lord Herbert ("Herbert") to Gerhard Vossius (1577-1649, Dutch scholar and theologian), asking for his opinion on Herbert's De religione gentilium, which he understands Vossius has just read, and sending him the money asked for by the printer, in Latin, dated Westminster, 15/25 January 1645 [1646?], 1p, folded at lower margin, plus address leaf with remnants of wax sealiv. Letter signed by Edward Lord Herbert ("Herbert") to Gerhard Vossius, also discussing his De religione gentilium, dated Westminster, 15/25 August 1645, 1p, plus address leaf
all in one volume, the letters bound at the front
v. The Life and Raigne of King Henry the Eighth, Written By the Right Honourable Edward Lord Herbert of Cherbury. London: printed by E.G. for Thomas Whitaker, 1649. FIRST EDITION, folio (272 x 173mm.), engraved frontispiece portrait of Henry VIII, title-page printed in red and black, woodcut initials and headpieces, contemporary calf, 2 pages of the preface not printed (so lacking text on A2v and A3r), rebacked
together 2 volumes
Edward Herbert (1583-1648), courtier, scholar and soldier, wrote one of the earliest modern autobiographies, though only up to the year 1624. His work on comparative religion, De religione gentilium, was finally printed in Amsterdam in 1663 through the efforts of Vossius's son Isaac. His work on Henry VIII was commissioned by Charles I in the 1630s.
REFERENCES: ESTC N33713; Wing H1504; Letters by Herbert: published in Gerardi Joan. Vossii et clarorum virorum ad eum epistolae (1691), II:306a and 302a (under 1646)
PROVENANCE:i. A gift from Horace Walpole manuscript note on dedication leaf, and bookplate of Panshanger, Hertfordshire; acquired by Firle Place, Sussex, presumably after the marriage of 6th Viscount Gage (1895-1982) to Imogen Grenfell, and after the death of Imogen's mother, Lady Ettie Desborough (1867-1952)
v. ownership inscription of "H. Hall" to title, presumably Henry Benedict Hall (1590-1668) of Highmeadow House, Gloucestershire; by descent to his grand-daughter Benedicta Maria Theresa Hall (d.1749), who, in 1713, married Thomas Gage 1st Viscount Gage (c.1695-1754)