The History of the Life and Death of Our Blessed Saviour.
Southampton: Printed and Sold by T. Baker... 1794. First edition. A second edition was published by Rivington in 1801. The present work appears to be the author’s only publication. Some splitting to hinges at head and tail. Blue speckled edges. Some minor toning to leaves but overall a near-fine copy of an uncommon book, very clean and fresh throughout. Contemporary tan calf with gilt-ruled spine and gilt spine label. Octavo. . vi, [14, list of subscribers], 7-554, 553-554, 555-711 pp. Complete. Item #16748
In the introduction to the present work, Catherine D’Oyly explains that her goal was to disseminate the ideas of Matthew Poole, George Stanhope, Thomas Sherlock, and other important theologians in an abridged and more easily readable style for the poor (p. v). D’Oyly explains that she was inclined to charity because that “she some years ago took upon herself the superintendence of one of those private charitable establishments, what have been instituted in various parts of the kingdom, for the increase of religion and encouragement of industry among the children of the poor,” (p. iv).
We could not find much information about Catherine D’Oyly in the sources available to us, though the entry for the D’Oyly lineage in the Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (1839) lists a Catherine D’Oyly among the family. Catherine, born sometime between 1753 and 1764, was the daughter of the Reverend Sir Hadley D’Oyly, 5th Baronet (c. 1709–1764). The list of subscribers in the present work, which includes the King and Queen as well as several princes and princesses, additionally suggests the author’s aristocratic lineage. ESTC lists seven copies, none in the U.S. OCLC adds three more in the UK, one at Harvard, and one at the University of Minnesota.
Price: $600.00