THE ANTIENT AND PRESENT STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. Containing I. An account of its antiquity, past government, and sufferings from the Danes, and other people, both foreign and domestick. II. An account of its colleges, halls, and publick buildings; of their founders and especial benefactors [etc]. III. An account of the laws, statutes and privileges of the university, and such of the laws of this realm which do any wise concern the sam [etc]. to which is added the method of proceeding in the Chancellor's Court. With an appendix and index to the whole.

AYLIFFE, John.

Edité par London: printed for E. Curll at the Dial and Bible against St. Dunstan's church in Fleetstreet, 1714

A propos de cet article

Two volumes, large 8vo (220 x 135mm), pp. [xxiv], 518, [10] index; [ii], 334, [10] index; clxxxix, [1] errata; an excellent copy in contemporary panelled calf, spines gilt with morocco labels, a very little rubbed, upper joints of both spines slightly cracked. First and only edition, and a subscriber's large paper copy. The generous margins of this copy would suggest it to be on large paper: this is confirmed by the fact that this copy belonged to Samuel, first Lord Sandys (1695-1770), whose name is in the subscription list for two copies, with an asterisk against his name as having paid for copies on large paper. From the age of six, Sandys had been left the beneficiary of a large estate in Worcestershire; he went up to New College, Oxford, in 1711, leaving the university without a degree, to travel abroad in about 1716-20. Clearly, he subscribed for this book before he left, and his college was significant because John Ayliffe was also a New College man, a lawyer and a tough controversialist. The history of the university related here is largely taken from Anthony Wood's account, published almost forty years before; but it is salted with aggressive criticism of the behaviour of heads of houses and university officials. In November 1714, Ayliffe was brought before the university court by the Vice-Chancellor and the former Warden of New College, who sued him for damages. The case dragged on into 1715 and eventually Ayliffe was forced to resign his fellowship: this book had proved to be his undoing, but it was widely circulated, with many contemporaries, both inside and outside the university, subscribing for copies. Among well-recognised names in the list are the Rawlinson brothers, Sir Hans Sloane, Joseph Addison, Lord Bolingbroke, Eustace Budgell, Roger Gale and Browne Willis. Less familiar subscribers, who deserve to be better known simply for their exotic names, are Amplias Reep (of Bethnal Green, London), and Sir Abstrupus Danby (a Yorkshire wool merchant). Cordeaux & Merry 163; Lowndes p. 89, noting the existence of large paper copies. See also Baines & Rogers, Edmund Curll bookseller, pp. 66-7. The same sheets were reissued in 1723 by two other London booksellers.

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: THE ANTIENT AND PRESENT STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. Containing I. An account of its antiquity, past government, and sufferings from the Danes, and other people, both foreign and domestick. II. An account of its colleges, halls, and publick buildings; of their founders and especial benefactors [etc]. III. An account of the laws, statutes and privileges of the university, and such of the laws of this realm which do any wise concern the sam [etc]. to which is added the method of proceeding ...
• Éditeur: London: printed for E. Curll at the Dial and Bible against St. Dunstan's church in Fleetstreet
• Date de parution: 1714
• Reliure: Couverture rigide
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Antiquarian studies