first edition Later nineteenth-century mottled tan calf, boards ruled in gilt, gilt spine in six compartments, each with a repeating floral de
1790/ · London:
by [ Trusler, John ]
London: Printed for and Published by the Rev. J[ohn] Trusler, 1790/ First and only edition, a moral work by an author who is credited with publishing the first thesaurus to the English language (The Difference Between Words Esteemed Synonymous, 1766). Later nineteenth-century mottled tan calf, boards ruled in gilt, gilt spine in six compartments, each with a repeating floral design, red gilt-lettered leather label. Edges stained yellow, marbled endpapers, gilt turn-ins. . Sixteenmo. Fifty woodcuts, including vignette title-page, by John Bewick. Binding extremities a bit rubbed with two small chips to crown of spine. Light foxing, the occasional small stain. Very minor closed tear to pp. 195-196, not affecting legibility. Faded contemporary ink inscription on p. 196. Bookplate on front flyleaf, bookseller's ticket on lower front pastedown, and small book label of children's book collector and librarian Albert A. Howard on rear pastedown, all twentieth-century. A very good copy. John Trusler (1735-1820) was a Church of England clergyman author, and printer, educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He was a compiler of others' works, the most famous of which was a "methodised and digested" version of Lord Chesterfield's Letters to His Son (1774), published as Principles of Politeness (1775). (Inventory #: 16570)