Lot 112
Published by Philadelphia: At the Classic Press, for the Proprietors Wm. Poyntell, & Co., 1804. First American edition, published the same year as the first. Contemporary tree sheep, gilt spine with red Morocco label. Anna Seward (1742-1809), called the "Swan of Lichfield", was the mistress of a kind of ornate verse that revealed the excesses of eighteenth-century sentimentalism (Mary Pharr in Schleuter's Encyclopedia of British Women Writers). As a teenager, she showed an early aptitude for poetry, which was encouraged and influenced by Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), then a young Lichfield doctor. Her grandfather had taught Samuel Johnson, and she furnished Boswell with many details of Johnson's early life, while admitting that she did not like him. She was raised with Honora Sneyd, whom her parents adopted. Sneyd became the second wife of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, whom Seward also disliked. Her literary friends included Thomas Day (author of Sandford and Merton), William Hayley, and Sir Walter Scott. After her death, Scott edited a three-volume set of her works. Octavo. xii, 313 pp. Memoirs of the Life of Dr. Darwin was one of Seward's last books. It was immediately attacked by the Edinburgh Review, not to mention Darwin's family because of Seward's claim that Darwin had appropriated some of her poetry in The Botanic Garden. The extent of Darwin's borrowing remains a controversial point. The Memoirs are of great interest as a first-hand account of Darwin's circle, whose members were precursors of the Romantic movement and had brought the teachings of Rousseau to the British Isles. Please ask specific questions on details, condition, and shipping prior to bidding, ALL ITEMS ARE SOLD AS IS, and the bidder will be responsible for payment. We box and ship what we can to keep costs low, and use USPS and UPS. Large items, extremely fragile, and high value items will be packed by UPS. Quotes available on request
- Dimensions: 5.75" x 8-5/8"
- Condition: Very Good Condition with no missing or torn pages.
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