SOME ACCOUNT OF THE REVOLUTION. [and] A FEAST OF THE GODS

[London: Printed for John Barber, and sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, 1723]. FIRST EDITION. 245 x 195 mm. (9 5/8 x 7 1/2"). pp. 69 (half title)-102, 161-71 only (final leaf with portion below the text cut away, pasted onto a blank leaf, and with original tailpiece carefully cut out and pasted below). Printed on watermarked paper. Edited by Alexander Pope.
Contemporary black morocco, covers panelled with gilt decorative and plain rules, center panel with letters "P W" beneath a crown imperial, this surrounded by repeating curled tools and acorn motifs arranged into the shape of a diamond, gilt floral corner pieces and side pieces around outer panel, expertly rebacked preserving original backstrip, smooth spine divided by gilt rules into compartments featuring (rather faded) gilt flowers, turn-ins with decorative gilt rolls, marbled endpapers. Opening of text with engraved allegorical vignette of Britannia, historiated opening initial, engraved tondo portrait of James II used as tailpiece to first work; second work with engraved opening vignette showing the titular Feast of the Gods, historiated initial, decorative tailpiece. Front flyleaf with ink stamp of Astle Library, half title with ink inscription of author's (otherwise absent) name, "Sheffield, Duke of Buckinghamshire," and with embossed stamp of the Royal Institution of Great Britain; final leaf with ink stamp noting the book was disposed of by the Institution. ◆Corners somewhat worn, backstrip with half a dozen small gouges, but the restored binding sound and appealing. Intermittent minor dust soiling (or perhaps singeing) to head edge of a few leaves, but an excellent copy internally, clean and fresh, and with deep impressions of the type.

Offered here in an ornate contemporaneous binding, this text comprises two essays: an unfinished account of William and Mary's coming to the English throne in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and a biting satire on European royals. On the orders of the government of William and Mary's successor, Queen Anne, the two essays were excised from the initial printing of the collected writings of the first duke of Buckingham because they contained unflattering remarks about William (the former Prince of Orange) and his fellow Dutchmen. Because nothing spurs demand like censorship of a text, pirated printings of the excised essays soon appeared; some of these (on unwatermarked paper) were inserted into copies of Sheffield's works. Bound copies of the original printings on watermarked paper, like the present item, are much rarer: RBH does not seem to list another copy of the original printing of these essays bound in a separate volume, as here, and it would appear that almost no copies of the "Works" include these essays on the original paper. John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham (1647-1721) had served the Catholic James II, first as gentleman of the bedchamber and later as lord chamberlain of the household. With the coming of William and Mary, Buckingham was forced to make a choice: he was initially loyal to the king, but when James failed to demonstrate his gratitude by raising him from an earldom to a marquisate, he switched his allegiance to William and Mary. In the present never-finished "Some Account of the Revolution," he suggests that William was jealous of his wife, who was the rightful successor to James II, and that he invaded England with the intent of seizing the throne for himself. In "Feast of the Gods," Buckingham imagines the Olympians mocking earthly rulers, and describes William as "so lazy, so heavy, and easily impos'd on by favourites; and yet so very ambitious and enterprising." The Dutch, he notes, are "remarkable for industry, and for having no one good quality besides." The position of the initials "PW" beneath a crown suggests original ownership by someone auspicious or hoping to be thought so, but we have been unable to make headway on identifying the person for whom our attractive binding was done. We do know that the volume was subsequently part of the renowned library of archivist, antiquary, and collector Thomas Astle (1735-1803), who, according to DNB, "formed an outstanding collection of charters and manuscripts, as well as a fine library of printed books." His collection was particularly rich in Medieval manuscripts, which eventually ended up in the British Library. DNB reports that almost all of his "1,500 or more printed books . . . were purchased from Astle's executors in 1804, for £1000, for the Royal Institution of Great Britain; most were dispersed by sale in the 1960s and 1970s.".