Remarks on the Life and Writings of Dr. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick’s, Dublin; In a Series of Letters from John Earl of Orrery To his Son, the Honourable Hamilton Boyle.

BOYLE, John.

Item Number: 140224

London: Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand, 1719.

Rare second corrected edition of the first attempt to give an account of the life and work of Jonathan Swift, which proved “full of rancour and grudging criticism even though he and Swift had been good friends” (DNB). Octavo, bound in full contemporary polished calf with gilt ruling and stamping to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, engraved frontispiece portrait of Swift. In near fine condition. Small Cornwell House library stamp. A very nice example.

John Boyle, Earl of Orrery, in his best-selling Remarks on the Life and Writings of Dr. Jonathan Swift (1751), created a mystery and controversy surrounding Swift's relationship, as tutor, with eight-year-old Hester Johnson, whom Swift nicknamed "Stella." Without confirmation, Orrery claimed that Swift and Stella were secretly married in 1716. Orrery's claims were soon challenged by Patrick Delany, Dean of Down, in his defense of Swift's good character, Observations upon Lord Orrery's Remarks on the Life and Writings of Dr. Jonathan Swift.