DEVOTIONIS AUGUSTINIANAE FLAMMA, OR, CERTAINE DEVOUT, GODLY, AND LEARNED MEDITATIONS. Written, by the excellently-accomplisht gentleman, William Austin, of Lincolnes-Inne, esquire. Set forth, after his decease, by his wife and executrix, Mris. Anne Austin, as a surviving monument of some part of the great worth of her ever-honoured husband, who changed his life, Ian. 16. 1633.

AUSTIN, William.

Edité par London printed for Richard Meighen and Iohn Legatt and are to be sold at the Middle-Temple-Gate, 1637

A propos de cet article

Small folio, engraved additional title page and pp. [vi], 30, [2], 31-54, [2], '53', '53', 57-95, [1] blank, [2], 97-292; complete with the additional part-title (after p. 54) not found in all copies; lower margin (approx 1cm) of engraved title page cut away but part of it (preserving the imprint) loosely inserted; else a fine, fresh copy, in contemporary English sheep, covers with blind fillet borders, spine a little darkened but in fine condition. Fragments of an early legal document used to strengthen binding clearly visible, naming Margaret Toothe. Second edition, first published in 1635 following the author's death in January 1634. This is the most important work of William Austin, a London barrister who was also a poet and associate of the Ben Jonson circle. He contributed prefatory verses to Coryate's Crudities (1611) and wrote tracts and verse for private circulation, most of his compositions being sacred in nature. The present work is known to have circulated in manuscripts written by the celebrated Ralph Crane (who also transcribed a significant quantity of plays for the Shakespeare First Folio): in 1632 Crane noted that copies were in short supply, there being only three in existence, all transcribed by him. Henry Woudhuysen's work on Crane, however, suggests that there was 'no evidence of a direct link between Crane and Austin, but their common legal backgrounds may explain how Crane got hold of his poems'. In his will Austin commanded his wife Anne to publish the Meditations, which include verse such as his Christmas carols (pp. 52-4) and a poetical meditation on Good Friday (pp. 117-125). He also gave a list of intended recipients of the finished work, which included Ben Jonson, John Selden and Thomas Farnaby, thus indicating the extent of his friendships with some of the most interesting and learned men of his day. STC 973. For the relationship between Ralph Crane and William Austin, see H.R. Woudhuysen, Sir Philip Sidney and the Circulation of Manuscripts 1558-1640 (Oxford, 1996), pp. 193-4. For a fuller account of Austin's career and poetry, see Graham Parry, 'The Devotional Flames of William Austin' in Early Modern Literary Studies (May 2001), available online. Provenance. Early shelf-marks on inside of upper cover.

N° de réf. du vendeur 25546

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: DEVOTIONIS AUGUSTINIANAE FLAMMA, OR, CERTAINE DEVOUT, GODLY, AND LEARNED MEDITATIONS. Written, by the excellently-accomplisht gentleman, William Austin, of Lincolnes-Inne, esquire. Set forth, after his decease, by his wife and executrix, Mris. Anne Austin, as a surviving monument of some part of the great worth of her ever-honoured husband, who changed his life, Ian. 16. 1633.
• Éditeur: London printed for Richard Meighen and Iohn Legatt and are to be sold at the Middle-Temple-Gate
• Date de parution: 1637
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Poetry