1777 Virtue in Humble Life by Jonas Hanway. 2 Vols. (Book Set)

'Virtue In Humble Life' by Jonas Hanway, printed for Dodsley, Pall Mall, London in 1777. (Robert Dodsley ran a bookshop at number 52 Pall Mall and it was he who suggested to Dr Samuel Johnson the idea of writing what would become the first modern English language dictionary). Complete in two volumes.

Imperial quarto. Both volumes are fully and handsomely bound in tan calf leather with five raised bands to the spine, a red leather title panel and green leather volume panel.

Book plate of 'F Renier' to the front pastedown for Anne and Fernand Renier; they were passionate book collectors and their library of 80,000 children’s books is now kept at the V&A.

Ink inscription to front flyleaf which reads, 'Catherine Thompson - gift of her Affectionate Mother February 1 1839'. Frontispiece and title pages present to both volumes. Some spotting the preliminary pages but largely clear thereafter.

Dimensions:-

Height: 28.25cm

Width: 23cm

SYNOPSIS

Jonas Hanway (1712-1786) travelled widely when a young man, but later devoted himself to philanthropy. He was apparently the first man in London to use an umbrella, and was an opponent of tea drinking, which brought him into conflict with Dr Johnson.

The book is a lengthy moralising tract, by way of example, one can find a section titled “Observations on the danger of dancing meetings among domestics, and the lower classes.” In it, Hanway writes that there is no dancing he approves of for his daughter, yet he accepts that “gentlemen and ladies, in grand assemblies, might dance minuets, in which they show the harmony of motion, and elegancy of deportment, corresponding with the sound of good music.” Country dances, however, are heavily criticised, 'Is it not monstrous excess, when it heats and disorders a woman’s person? You would not play at cricket, because it is masculine, and requires great exertion, and puts the player into a violent sweat and agitation: does not country dancing do the same?” Hanway was unmarried, so it seems peculiar that he should pontificate on the upbringing of a daughter.

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