The Works, of the Right Honourable Sir Chas. Hanbury Williams,

Additional information

1st ed, VG, 3 vols complete. In quarter red modern paper spine and contemporary plain brown boards, corners and edges rubbed slightly, some marks. Spines, contemporary paper labels, a little browned. Internally, no inscriptions etc, top edges cut, remainder uncut, printed by TC Hansard, Peterborough-court, Fleet-street, London. Vol 1, portrait frontis, [5], (vi-xxiv), [1], 2-256 pp, some leaves uncut, Whatman water mark to tp, 59 poems. Vol 2, portrait frontis, [3], (iv-vii), [1]. [1], 2-272 pp, 52 poems, some leaves uncut. Vol 3, portrait frontis, [3], (iv) only, [1], 2-123 pp, [3], [1], (ii-xciv), many leaves uncut, 24 poems and 1 letter. (Lowndes 2930. Brockett 2958. Allibone 2735). Williams, writer and diplomatist, who in addition to political satire and panegyric, wrote much miscellaneous verse: songs, love poems, complimentary verses, and imitations of Horace, Virgil, and Ovid. Much of his poetry was judged obscene, even by his contemporaries, and his reputation has reflected that judgement. Many poems, however, were not meant to be published but rather to be sung among drinking companions or read aloud to friends to gain the reputation of a wit. See ODNB.