The Praises of Isis

London: R. and J. Dodsley, 1755. ~Original stab-stitched eighteenth-century pamphlet, as originally sold without outer wrappers or binding, but with half title and final advertisement leaf as called for. Has been stored folded, with mild horizontal crease to centre of all pages and slight browning to half-title at fold. Mild soiling to outer leaves, with small splash mark to half-title. Inscription in old hand to base half-title: 'For Mr. Anberg'. Mild edgewear, with some page corners folded over. One of a number of mid-century topographical 'Isis' poems (the river Thames is also known as the Isis from its source until it is joined by the River Thame at Dorchester, the name having particular currency in Oxford). The ESTC notes that the poem is sometimes attributed to Philip Bennett (whose name is written in pencil to t.p.), but it was ascribed to the poet Charles Emily (1734-1762) when it was reprinted in the 1775 anthology 'A Collection of Poems in Four Volumes', edited by George Pearch. This attribution has been followed by recent critics, including Aubin in 'Topographical Poetry in XVIIIth-Century England', for who the mid-century Isis poems are 'interesting for their extreme use of personification' and 'prove the vitality of classical and Renaissance models' (Aubin 1966, p. 229). Emily's 1762 'Death. A Poem' was one of only two sonnet sequences published in the 18th century: 'an eccentric, extraordinary work that deserves an audience today' (Hansen, Literary Imagination, 12.3, 2010), it was like 'Praises of Isis' firmly rooted in a university milieu (it was submitted to Cambridge's Seatonian Prize and closely influenced by Thomas Gray, a neighbour of Emily's at Trinity College). 'Praises of Isis', an 'elegant poetical compliment to the University of Oxford' (Monthly Review, 12, 1755, p. 107), decorously defends its author against any suspicion of 'ingratitude towards his Alma Mater': he writes in praise of Oxford 'acting from a maxim in modern politeness, which taught him to pay his compliments to a stranger, before he did it to one, with whom by relationship he was so intimately connected'. ESTC T61576. Remarkably intact survival of a scarce publication in its original form. ~Robust packaging. Overseas tracking available on request. . 1st edn. Paperback. Good. 26pp. Binding sound, text unmarked.