ENGLISH RESTORATION England/United Kingdom/UK 1680 RARE

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GENUINELY RARE, ORIGINAL 1680 FIRST EDITION OF: "SOME PASSAGES OF THE THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE RIGHT HONORABLE JOHN EARL OF ROCHESTER." This important 17th century treatise was written by Gilbert Burnet and printed for Richard Chiswel, London. Informative work chronicles the colorful life and times of John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester. Wilmot was the toast of the Restoration court and a highly visible patron of the arts. His exploits of debauchery are legendary and he is among the most notorious figures associated with the Restoration. [First Edition, first issue, with 3-line errata at A8 verso. Wing B5922]. Rochester's life was divided between uneventful domesticity in the country and an utterly riotous existence at Court, w he was renowned for his drunkenness, vivacious conversation and "extravagant frolics" as part of the "Merry Gang", as Andrew Marvell called them. In addition to Wilmot they included Henry Jermyn, Charles Sackville Lord Buckhurst [later Earl of Dorset], John Sheffield Earl of Mulgrave, Henry Killigrew, Sir Charles Sedley, the playwrights Wycherley and Etge, as well as George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. While all were known to engage in outlandish behavior, none could match that of Rochester who is said to have succumbed to syphilis at the youthful age of thirty-three. As Samuel Johnson put it--"in a course of drunken gaiety and gross sensuality, with intervals of study perhaps yet more criminal, with an avowed contempt of decency and order, a total disregard to every moral, and a resolute denial of every religious observation, he lived worthless and useless, and blazed out his youth and health in lavish voluptuousness". John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1647-1680) was a noted English libertine and wit, a friend of King Charles II, and the writer of much satirical and bawdy poetry. The most notorious debauchee of the Restoration court, Rochester was also its best poet and one of the most original and powerful English satirists. He married an heiress, Elizabeth Malet, but had many mistresses, including the actress Elizabeth Barry. Rochester was born in Ditchley, Oxfordshire. His father, Henry, Viscount Wilmot, a hard-drinking Royalist from Anglo-Irish stock, had been named Earl of Rochester in 1652 for military services to Charles II during his exile under the Commonwealth; he died abroad in 1658, two years before the restoration of the monarchy in England. His mother Anne St. John was a Royalist by descent and a staunch Anglican. At the age of twelve, Rochester matriculated at Wadham College, Oxford, and t, it is said, "grew debauched". At fourteen he was awarded the degree of M.A. by Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, who was Chancellor to the University and Rochester's uncle. After carrying out a Grand Tour of France and Italy, Rochester returned to London, w he graced the Restoration court. Later, his courage in a sea-battle against the Dutch made him a hero. In 1667 he married Elizabeth Malet, a witty heiress whom he had attempted to abduct two years earlier. Rochester's life was split between domesticity in the country and an outlandish presence at court which became legendary. Much of Rochester's poetry suggests that he was bisexual. He was fascinated by the theatre and was the model for the witty, poetry-reciting rake Dorimant in George Etge's "The Man of Mode" (1676). According to an often repeated anecdote, his coaching of his mistress Elizabeth Barry began her career as the greatest actress of the Restoration stage. In 1674, Rochester wrote a satire on Charles II [variously known simply as "Satyr" and by its first line, "In the Isle of Britain"], which criticised the King for being obsessed with sex at the expense of his kingdom. Charles reacted by briefly exiling Rochester from the court. During his brief exile, Rochester appears to have spent time at his estate in Adderbury and perhaps also posing as a merchant in London's old city. He then returned to his seat in the House of Lords after an absence of about sev... read more

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