Charles Churchill The Times 4to 1764 Untrimmed 1ST ED NO RES SIGNED BY CHURCHILL

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OFFERED WITH NO RESERVE is a VERY RARE AND DESIRABLE UNTRIMMED EXAMPLE OF THE 1764 FIRST EDITION OF ‘THE TIMES’ BY CHARLES CHURCHILL, one of the greatest English satirists of the 18th century, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, printed at London in large quarto for the author, complete in all respects including the half-title, and beautifully bound in modern mottled half-calf over marbled boards. PLEASE REVIEW THE PHOTOS BELOW IN ORDER TO ASCERTAIN MOST EFFECTIVELY THE VOLUME’S CONDITION. THIS VOLUME IS BEING OFFERED NOT SUBJECT TO RETURN. This is part of a remarkable collection of about 55 works of 17th and 18th century English poetry I am offering indvidually this week with no reserve. � A BEAUTIFUL AND VERY RARE UNTRIMMED EXAMPLE OF THE FIRST EDITION OF CHARLES CHURCHILL’S ‘THE TIMES,’ PRINTED IN QUARTO AT LONDON IN 1764, AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR ON THE HALF-TITLE AND THE TITLE. � � The full title reads as follows: � “The Times. A Poem. By C. Churchill. / London: / Printed For The Author; And Sold by J. Coote, in Pater-noster-Row; J. Almon, in Piccadilly; W. Flexney, near Gray’s-Inn Gate, Holborn; C. Henderson, at the Royal-Exchange; J. Gardiner, in Charles-Street, Westminster; and C. Moran, under the Great Piazza, Covent-Garden. / M DCC LXIV [1764].” � � Churchill was born in Vine Street,� Westminster. His father, rector of Rainham, � Essex, held the curacy and lectureship of St Johns, Westminster, from 1733, and Charles was educated at� Westminster School, where he became a good classical scholar, and formed a close and lasting friendship with� Robert Lloyd. He was admitted to� St John's College, Cambridge� on 8 July 1748.� Churchill contracted a marriage within the rules of the Fleet in his eighteenth year, and never lived at Cambridge; the young couple lived in his father's house, and Churchill was afterwards sent to the north of England to prepare for holy orders. He became curate of� South Cadbury,� Somerset, and, on receiving priest's orders (1756), began to act as his father's curate at Rainham. Two years later the elder Churchill died, and the son was elected to succeed him in his curacy and lectureship. His emoluments amounted to less than £100 a year, and he increased his income by teaching in a girls' school. His marriage proved unhappy, and he began to spend much of his time in dissipation in the society of Robert Lloyd. He was separated from his wife in 1761, and would have been imprisoned for debt but for the timely help of Lloyd's father, who had been an usher and was now a master at Westminster. � Churchill had already done some work for the booksellers, and his friend Lloyd had had some success with a didactic poem,� The Actor. Churchill's knowledge of the theatre was now made use of in the� Rosciad, which appeared in March 1761. This reckless and amusing satire described with the most disconcerting accuracy the faults of the various actors and actresses on the London stage; in a competition judged by� Shakespeare� and� Jonson, Garrick is named the greatest English actor. Its immediate popularity was no doubt largely due to its personal character, but its vigour and raciness make it worth reading even now when the objects of Churchill's wit are forgotten. The first impression was published anonymously, and in the� Critical Review, conducted by� Tobias Smollett, it was confidently asserted that the poem was the joint production of� George Colman the Elder,� Bonnell Thornton� and Robert Lloyd. Churchill immediately published an� Apology addressed to the Critical Reviewers, which, after developing the subject that it is only authors who prey on their own kind, repeats the fierce attack on the stage. Incidentally it contains an enthusiastic tribute to� John Dryden, of whom Churchill was a devotee. In the� Rosciad� he had praised Mrs Pritchard, Mrs Cibber and� Mrs Clive, but no leading London actor, with the exception of� David Garrick, had escaped censure, and in the� Apology� Garrick was clearly threatened. He deprecated criticism by showing every possible civility t... read more

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