Presentation copy
A true account and declaration of the horrid conspiracy against the late King His Present Majesty and the government. As it was order'd to be published by His late Majesty
[London] In the Savoy: printed by Thomas Newcomb, one of His Majesties printers, 1685. First edition, folio, 2 volumes in 1, pp. [6], 167; [2], 141; woodcut ornaments; full contemporary calf, neatly rebacked. Presentation copy from the author, inscribed on the front free endpaper, "R. Duke Donum Rev:nds Authoris Thomae Roffensis" (i.e. "R. Duke, a gift of the Reverend Author, Thomas, Bishop of Rochester"). R. Duke is almost certainly Richard Duke (1658-1711), the English poet and divine (see DNB). No presentation copy of Sprat's has appeared at auction in more than 50 years. Second title reads: Copies of the Informations and Original Papers relating to the proof of the Horrid Conspiracy against the late King, His present Majesty and the Government, 1685. Sprat (1635-1713) was a friend of Dryden, Evelyn, Cowley, Christopher Wren, and John Wilkins, and was in the midst of those who were to found the Royal Society, of which he was the first historian. "On 21 Sept. 1683 he was installed in the deanery of Westminster, and he was consecrated at Lambeth as bishop of Rochester on 2 Nov. 1684, holding both preferments until his death ... He marked his gratitude for his new preferments by bringing out at the close of May 1685 A True Account and Declaration of the Horrid Conspiracy against the late King, his present Majesty and the Government, which, though anonymous, was known to be the composition of Sprat. It purported to be an account of the Rye House plot, and he drew it up after much hesitation, as he subsequently pleaded, at the command of Charles II, who granted ‘free liberty to consult the Paper-office and council-books.’ A second edition appeared in the same year, a third in 1686, and a fourth in 1696" (DNB). Wing S-5065A and S-5029A respectively. Item #33809
Price: $3,800.00
