Verlag: Paris: Janet & Cotelle 1827 (De l'imprimerie de Jules Didot L'aîné), 1827
Anbieter: Antiquariat Lengelsen, Werdohl, Deutschland
Hldr. d. Zt. m. gold- u. blindgepr. R. Goldgepr. Rt. Farb. Deckelbezüge u. Vorsätze, dreiseitiger marmor. Farbschnitt. 512 u. 301 S. (R. ber., unterers Kapital schadhaft, einige wenige Seiten braun- bzw. stockfleckig. Gut).
Verlag: J. Johnson, 1792., London:, 1792
Anbieter: Jeff Weber Rare Books, Montreux, VAUD, Schweiz
Erstausgabe
Small 8vo. 248 pp. Engraved frontis-portrait. Original drab boards, black-stamped spine title, uncut; spine neatly replaced. Ink signature on title-page, notation in same hand on p. 195, "A marble Statue upon a Pedestal with a suitable Inscription has since been erected to his memory in the Cathedral of St. Paul London." J. Pickering [ca. 1795]. Fine. First edition. John Howard (1726-1790), philanthropist and prison reformer. "On 8 Feb 1773 Howard was appointed high sheriff of Bedfordshire. Howard now commenced his career as a prison reformer. In his official capacity the defective arrangements of the prisons and the intolerable distress of the prisoners were brought immediately under his notice. Shocked at discovering that persons who had been declared not guilty, or against whom the grand jury had failed to find a true bill, or even those whose prosecutors had failed to appear, were confined in gaol until certain fees were paid to the gaoler, Howard suggested to the Bedfordshire justices that the gaoler should be paid by a salary in lieu of fees. . . The many abuses which he unearthed determined him to continue his investigations, and he left few of the county gaols unvisited." [DNB] / John Aikin M.D. was the son of John Aikin (1713-1780), tutor of the Warrington Academy, which during the twenty-nine years of its existence was the centre of liberal politics and literary taste of the county of Lancashire. "Aikin is better known as a man of letters than as a physician. His elegant scholarship gave a natural polish to all that he wrote, and his varied attainments, as well as his moral uprightness, earned him many friends, among whom where Dr. Priestley; Pennant, the naturalist; Dr. Darwin; James Montgomery; John Howard, the philanthropist; and, for a time, the poet, Southey. He was John Howard's literary executor, and was often employed by him to write reports on prisons, and other documents." [DNB]. / Aikin's Life has therefore the advantage of being written by someone who knew Howard well and was very closely associated with his work. PROVENANCE: J. Pickering [ca. 1795]. REFERENCES: Baumgartner 47; BM Readex Vol. 1, p. 271; DNB Vol. I, pp. 186-6; DNB Vol. X, pp. 44-48.
Verlag: Warrington: Printed By William Eyres, For Joseph Johnson, 1774., 1774
Anbieter: D & E LAKE LTD. (ABAC/ILAB), Toronto, ON, Kanada
8vo. pp. xix, 286 modern quarter calf over older cloth sides (some modest foxing throughout). Second Edition (first: 1772) of this scholarly examination of song-writing and pastoral poetry by the English physician and man of letters. "[Aikin's] elegant scholarship gave a natural polish to all that he wrote, and his varied attainments, as well as his moral uprightness, earned him many friends, among whom were Dr. Priestley, Pennant, the naturalist, Dr. Darwin, James Montgomery, John Howard, the philanthopist, and, for a time, the poet, Southey." (DNB) NCBEL II 23.
Verlag: Without place or date but after the establishment of the firm of Cadell & Davies in, 1793
Anbieter: Richard M. Ford Ltd, London, Vereinigtes Königreich
Manuskript / Papierantiquität
2pp, 12mo. Bifolium, addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Messs. Cadell & Davies'. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to one edge. An interesting document, providing an insight into the world of Georgian publishing. Without preamble or salutation, reads: 'This work, in point of style, composition, & sentiment everything, in short, in which the writer's merit is concerned, is much below mediocrity. But whether its subject, & the side it takes in party, might not at the present moment gain it some public favour, is what I cannot answer. The author certainly conceives it to be a happy stroke at the times; & he has done all in his power by a full portion of political bigotry to make it suit its purpose. From the slight examination I have given it, it appears to contain nothing new in a historical view. | J. A.' From the distinguished autograph collection of the psychiatrist Richard Alfred Hunter (1923-1981), whose collection of 7000 works relating to psychiatry is now in Cambridge University Library. Hunter and his mother Ida Macalpine had a particular interest in the illness of King George III, and their book 'George III and the Mad Business' (1969) suggested the diagnosis of porphyria popularised by Alan Bennett in his play 'The Madness of George III'.
Verlag: 'Stoke Newington | Decer. 6th. ', 1813
Anbieter: Richard M. Ford Ltd, London, Vereinigtes Königreich
Manuskript / Papierantiquität
1p, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn, with thin strip from mount adhering to the reverse of the second leaf, which is addressed, with two postmarks (one 'STOKE NEWINGTON') to 'Mr Spottiswoode | New Street | Shoe Lane'. Aikin's 'Universal Biography' had begun appearing in 1799, and the letter concerns the ninth volume, which was published in 1814. Aikin begins by stating that, according to his 'calculation', he either has by him, or soon will have, 'copy enough to finish the volume as soon as it can be printed, & I suppose Mr Johnston [William Johnston, one of the main contributors] will also be ready with his part [last eleven words underlined]'. It is Aikin's wish 'that this volume should be less bulky than the last, since otherwise there will be scarcely matter enough left for the tenth, even including an Appendix. I have written U & V & am beginning W but I should wish not to go through the last letter, or much to turn the 600th page.' From the distinguished autograph collection of the psychiatrist Richard Alfred Hunter (1923-1981), whose collection of 7000 works relating to psychiatry is now in Cambridge University Library. Hunter and his mother Ida Macalpine had a particular interest in the illness of King George III, and their book 'George III and the Mad Business' (1969) suggested the diagnosis of porphyria popularised by Alan Bennett in his play 'The Madness of George III'.