by PRIOR, Matthew
PRIOR, Matthew. MISCELLANEOUS WORKS OF HIS LATE EXCELLENCY MATTHEW PRIOR, ES CONSISTING OF POEMS... London: Editor, 1740. 8vo. Contemporary calf. Frontispiece, vi, iv, xcv, (i) 380 pages. Thomas Jefferson recommended Prior's Poems to his future brother-in-law, Robe Skipwith, in 1771. Prior's works were popular in early America being found i the libraries of William Byrd, Robert Carter of Nomini Hall, and John Mercer among others. They were also advertised in the Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg. Matthew Prior (1664-1721) "was one of the neatest of English epigrammatist, and in occasional pieces and familiar verses he had no rival i English." -- The Oxford Companion to English Literature. He was active in English politics, used as a secret agent to Paris, negotiating what would lat become the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) being popularly known as "Matt's Peace." Printed bookplate of Graham Pollard (1903-1976), noted English bookseller, bibliographer and book collector and contributor to The Cambridge Bibliograph of English Literature. Wear to top and bottom of spine and on tops of board, else very good.
(Inventory #: 40431)