POLWHELE, Richard, editor (1760-1838). Poems chiefly by Gentlemen of Devonshire and Cornwall . Bath: by R. Crutwell and sold by T. Cadell, C. Dilly, and G.G. and J. Robinson London, Fletcher, Oxford, and Merrill, Cambridge. 2 volumes in one, small 8°, half-title, woodcut vignettes (some light spotting and occasional soiling), contemporary half calf and comb-marbled boards, smooth spine with red morocco title label and contrasting black morocco label with gilt crest of William Cowper (spine restored). Provenance : William Cowper (1731-1800), with the editor's 22-line manuscript dedicatory poem to Cowper on verso of half title, Cowper's ownership signature dated 1797 on title, his armorial bookplate and crest on spine. FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY TO WILLIAM COWPER of this rare West Country anthology. This is one of 400 volumes which the poet owned at the time of his death in 1800, a numbered list being included in Wright's Life , Appendix A (London, 1892, pp. 659-665). Richard Polwhele, chiefly remembered as the topographer of Devon and Cornwall, was born at Truro and educated at the grammar school. In 1782 he became curate of Kenton, near Powderham Castle, Devonshire, a post he continued to occupy until 1793. Many of the gentry were imbued with literary tastes, and Polwhele joined a literary society at Exeter that held meetings at the Globe tavern every three weeks, and combined their poetic talents in the present anthology. The half title in this copy has been left uncut and folded over at the outer margin in order to accomodate Polwhele's dedicatory lines. Signed and dated Kenton near Exeter Apr. 18th 1792, they begin with the exhortation: "Cowper! To thee the muse of Devon bears/A rustic offering. On the green Hill-tops Or in the hollow combes, beside the Rills,/She gather'd many a Wildflower...." Polwhele is confident that ".... Cowper will accept with favouring glance This votive gift ...." being a poet of "true taste" and "unaffected learning." An enlarged second edition of the Poems appeared in 1794. Wright, Appendix A, no. 33.
POLWHELE, Richard, editor (1760-1838). Poems chiefly by Gentlemen of Devonshire and Cornwall . Bath: by R. Crutwell and sold by T. Cadell, C. Dilly, and G.G. and J. Robinson London, Fletcher, Oxford, and Merrill, Cambridge. 2 volumes in one, small 8°, half-title, woodcut vignettes (some light spotting and occasional soiling), contemporary half calf and comb-marbled boards, smooth spine with red morocco title label and contrasting black morocco label with gilt crest of William Cowper (spine restored). Provenance : William Cowper (1731-1800), with the editor's 22-line manuscript dedicatory poem to Cowper on verso of half title, Cowper's ownership signature dated 1797 on title, his armorial bookplate and crest on spine. FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY TO WILLIAM COWPER of this rare West Country anthology. This is one of 400 volumes which the poet owned at the time of his death in 1800, a numbered list being included in Wright's Life , Appendix A (London, 1892, pp. 659-665). Richard Polwhele, chiefly remembered as the topographer of Devon and Cornwall, was born at Truro and educated at the grammar school. In 1782 he became curate of Kenton, near Powderham Castle, Devonshire, a post he continued to occupy until 1793. Many of the gentry were imbued with literary tastes, and Polwhele joined a literary society at Exeter that held meetings at the Globe tavern every three weeks, and combined their poetic talents in the present anthology. The half title in this copy has been left uncut and folded over at the outer margin in order to accomodate Polwhele's dedicatory lines. Signed and dated Kenton near Exeter Apr. 18th 1792, they begin with the exhortation: "Cowper! To thee the muse of Devon bears/A rustic offering. On the green Hill-tops Or in the hollow combes, beside the Rills,/She gather'd many a Wildflower...." Polwhele is confident that ".... Cowper will accept with favouring glance This votive gift ...." being a poet of "true taste" and "unaffected learning." An enlarged second edition of the Poems appeared in 1794. Wright, Appendix A, no. 33.
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