Literary Leisure,

Book Description

London: Printed for William Miller, 1802. or the Recreations of Solomon Saunter, Esq. 2 vols., 8vo. With the half-titles, these and the versos of the last leaves of text with the imprint "Lane Leadenhall-Street"; small tear to Vol. I half-title, browned and with occasional stains throughout. Contemporary calf; rubbed with the spine ends worn or chipped. First edition, a mixture of literary essays and fiction with a preponderance of the latter. The work has often been attributed to Hewson Clarke, afterwards engaged in satirical duelling with Byron (Byron said Clarke quarreled with Byron's pet bear over a fellowship), and it is tempting to imagine this often juvenile-seeming farrago the work of a very precocious fourteen year-old - Clarke was born in 1787 - but it seems more than a little improbable. More likely the attribution came about through confusion with the papers Clarke published in The Saunterer in Newcastle in 1805. Another mystery is why William Lane, then near the height of his Minerva career, would accept jobbing work from William Miller. Five copies (DLC, NIC, CtY, NcU, NN) in NUC.

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