Author: PIOZZI (Hester Lynch), editor. JOHNSON (Samuel), author:
Title: Letters to and from the late Samuel Johnson, LL.D., to which are added, Some Poems Never Before Printed. Published from the Original MSS. in Her Possession. By Hester Lynch Piozzi. In Two Volumes
Description: Dublin: Printed for Messrs. R. Moncrieffe, L. White, P. Byrne, P. Wogan, W. Porter, H. Colbert, J. Moore, J. Jones. M.DCC.LXXXVIII, 1788. FIRST IRISH EDITION. 2 volumes in 1. 8vo, 205 x 120 mms., pp. [v] vi - xvi, 279 [280 nlamk]; [iii] iv - ix [x blank], 306, contemporary sheepskin, gilt rules on spine, red leather label; top margin of title-page with name slightly defective, top of spine chipped, some scoring and very slight wear to covers, front joint slightly cracked, but a good to very good copy with fine provenance. This is the first Irish edition of the classic collection of letters of Samuel Johnson edited by his friend Hester Lynch Piozzi. The provenance of this copy is distinguished and very much Irish, while also connecting to London literary circles, including Edmund Burke, who was close to Samuel Johnson for many years. The printed book-label is so rare that I had never come across it before. It is that of Sir Hercules Langrishe, 1st Baronet (c.1729-1811), Minister of Parliament for Knocktopher, County Kilkenny, Ireland, who was also "commissioner of barracks (1766-74), supervisor of accounts (1767-75), commissioner of revenue (1774-1802), and commissioner of excise (1780-1802)", as well as being "appointed an Irish privy councillor in 1786" (Oxford DNB). Langrishe had a "lifelong friendship with Edmund Burke, who wrote an open 'Letter to Sir H. Langrishe' in 1792, encouraging his efforts to secure relief for Catholics from the rigours of the Penal Laws" (Wikipedia). Literary himself, being a poet and the main compiler of the anthology Baratariana: A Select Collection of Fugitive Political Pieces (Dublin, 1772), Langrishe was notably anthologised himself together with Mrs Piozzi in The Poetical Farrago: Being a Miscellaneous Assemblage of Epigrams and other Jeux D'Esprit (1794): Piozzi's poem titled "Verses" is found in the first volume on page 89, and Langrishe appears five pages later, with "Verses on Miss Farren's Acting in Dublin for the Benefit of Persons Confined for Small Debts". The second owner, who signed "Richard Martin / Clifford", is no doubt Richard Martin, Esquire (1744-1824) of Clifford House, County Cork, Ireland. Clifford House, which he built, and which still stands, is featured on Ireland's National Inventory of Architectural Heritage website, where one can see several photos of the pleasant country seat: . This first Irish edition of Piozzi's collection of Johnson letters is ESTC T75351. It is far more scarce than the first edition, published in London the same year, which is ESTC T82906.

Keywords: correspondence poetry literature

Price: GBP 825.00 = appr. US$ 1178.09 Seller: John Price Antiquarian Books
- Book number: 10082

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