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ITER BOREALE, WITH LARGE ADDITIONS OF SEVERAL OTHER POEMS BEING AN EXACT COLLECTION OF ALL HITHERTO EXTANT. NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED TOGETHER.
([London]: Printed for the Booksellers in London, 1668). 145 x 90 mm. (5 3/4 x 3 1/2"). 1 p.l. (blank), [3]-122 pp., [3] leaves (table and final blank). First Complete Edition (Fourth Edition overall).
Contemporary sheep, covers ruled in blind, smooth spine, early paper label with gilt titling. Front blank with the ink ownership inscription of John Drinkwater; inside lower board with the book label of Michael Curtis Phillips. Hayward, "English Poetry" 121 (this copy); Grolier Club, "Wither to Prior" 976; Wing W2136; ESTC R7135. ◆Covers with light scuffing, bottom leather thong (of two) broken, but the text block quite secure at the top, pastedowns lifted, but the insubstantial binding still in remarkably good original condition; internally A VERY FINE COPY, especially clean, fresh, and bright.
From the library of Richard Jennings, noted for the outstanding condition of his books, this is an especially fresh and extraordinarily well-preserved copy of poems by a Puritan divine known for his surprisingly biting wit. Dryden dubbed Robert Wild (1609-79) "the Wither of the City" after hearing the Financial District's workers' enthusiastic reception of the title poem here, which celebrates General Monck's successful campaign to restore Charles II to the throne: "I have seen them reading it in the midst of 'Change so vehemently that they lost their bargains by their candles' ends." Our collection contains several of Wild's most notable works, including "The Recantation of a Penitent Proteus," satirizing Puritan clergy who had conformed to the Anglican Church; "The Loyal Nonconformist," professing his loyalty to the monarchy but maintaining his Puritan religious views; and "The Fair Quarrel," an attack on the 1665 Five Mile Act designed to drive nonconformist ministers out of their parishes. Wild was something of a paradox: he could preach a hellfire Puritan sermon but also write verse sufficiently scandalous to be mistakenly attributed to the notorious libertine John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester. Our volume was loaned by Richard Jennings for the celebrated 1947 London Exhibition of First and Early Editions of English Poetry catalogued by John Hayward. It would not be reasonable to expect to find a finer unrestored contemporaneous copy of this imprint. (ST19030)
Price: $5,500.00