SELECT ESSAYS TENDING TO THE UNIVERSAL REFORMATION OF LEARNING: Concluded with the Art of War, or a Summary of the Martial Precepts Necessary for an Officer.
Pp. [xiv]+286(last errata), with the table and errata (numbered 281-285) bound in at the front after the Author's Apology; f'cap. 8vo; contemporary speckled calf, ruled in blind compartments, small piece chipped from head of spine, edges of boards lightly worn, the joints starting at head; all edges sprinkled red; bookplate of David Levine, Sydney, on upper pastedown, the hinges starting, early inked signature at head of title page and large inked initial 'R' on the licence leaf (Imprimatur, Decemb. 27. 1692. Edmund Bohun), faint damp stain to fore-edge of most leaves, occasionally extending slightly into text; printed for Tho. Minors, London, 1693. Wing F2165. *A relatively early work by the mystical writer William Freke (1662-1744), including sections on anger, meekness, logic, happiness, secrets, sincerity, censure, constancy, and more; culminating in 'The art of War, or the Usefulness of War'. According to the entry in the Dictionary of National Biography, Freke's later writings 'show an increasing craziness, and there is a more revolting grossness in his dreams, which constitute the autobiography of a diseased imagination'. Item #173570
Price: $1,750.00