(RARE BOOK) ESSAY ON MAN, by Alex. Pope. Worcester/Boston, Howland/Mussey, 1837.

Description: This is the RARE 1837 Worcester-Boston, Massachusetts Printing of AN ESSAY ON MAN: IN FOUR EPISTLES TO HENRY St. JOHN, LORD BOLINGBROKE (1678-1751), by Alexander Pope. The little book measures 4" x 6" and contains 48 numbered pages. The title page has the imprint of Henry J. Howland (1810-1897), Worcester, 1837 HOWEVER, The printed cover of the book retains the same author-title but the imprint at the bottom is that of Benjamin B. Mussey, Boston, 1837! Lengthy research on Worldcat determines the following;1) Mussey was both an author and a publisher, with upwards of 100 different titles published by him between 1831 and 1857, many of which were children's illustrated books, colored chapbooks, almanacs and even a bible.2) The rear cover of the book is an advertisement for POND'S MURRAY'S GRAMMAR published by Dorr, Howland & Co. in Worcester.3) Dorr, Howland and Co. reprinted the ESSAY in 1839 & 1841 in Worcester and in London (?!)4) Only 2 copies of this 1837 Howland/Worcester edition were located at Yale University and at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester. Both copies are identical to this copy with the Mussey imprint on the front cover and with the ad for POND'S MURRAY'S GRAMMAR on the rear cover. No copies recorded in "Checklist of American Imprints".5) A variant of this 1837 edition published by Dorr, Howland & Co. and printed by Henry Howland is also at the AAS. (Checklist of American Imprints #46348)6) The First American Edition was published by Crukshank in Philadelphia in 1789.Voltaire called it the most sublime didactic poem ever written in any language. Rousseau rhapsodized about its intellectual consolations. Kant recited long passages of it from memory during his lectures. And Adam Smith and David Hume drew inspiration from it in their writings. This was Alexander Pope's Essay on Man (1733-34), a masterpiece of philosophical poetry, one of the most important and controversial works of the Enlightenment, and one of the most widely read, imitated, and discussed poems of eighteenth-century Europe and America. This volume, which presents the first major new edition of the poem in more than fifty years, introduces this essential work to a new generation of readers, recapturing the excitement and illuminating the debates it provoked from the moment of its publication.Echoing Milton's purpose in Paradise Lost, Pope says his aim in An Essay on Man is to vindicate the ways of God to man--to explain the existence of evil and explore man's place in the universe. In a comprehensive introduction, Tom Jones describes the poem as an investigation of the fundamental question of how people should behave in a world they experience as chaotic, but which they suspect to be orderly from some higher point of view.*********************************Payment is requested within five days of auction's close. After payment is received normal shipping is within 4 days; super quick shipping can be arranged, JUST ASK.INTERNATIONAL BUYERS: All of our international shipments are processed via the eBay International Shipping program, including payment and returns.Please note our years of positive feedback.... it offers proof of the overall satisfaction of our customers for over 20 years of selling Books, Maps, Autographs, Prints and other mostly Paper items on eBay. It is because items are accurately described and guaranteed, and carefully packaged. Our goal has always been your happiness with your purchase. If any item fails to do that, contact us and we will work to correct it through refunds or returns.

Price: 65 USD

Location: Saint Helena Island, South Carolina

End Time: 2025-01-13T20:37:25.000Z

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