The Harleian Miscellany: or, A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and Entertainung Pamphlets and Tracts ... Found in the Late Earl of Oxford's Library - Volume V (Five)

T. Osborne, 1745-01-01. Hardcover. Acceptable. 1745 first edition 'Printed for T[homas] Osborne in Gray's-Inn' (London), 8 1/4 x 10 1/8 inches tall x 2 1/4 inches thick full contemporary leather bound, five raised bands to spine, all page edges red, xii, 576 pp. plus bound at the rear of the volume, A Catalogue of Pamphlets in the Harleian Library, paginated 97-136 pp. Covers bumped, rubbed and edgeworn, with cracked hinges. A blank front free-endpaper has been glued to the front pastedown to firm up the binding on this large volume, which is quite solid. Apart from mostly marginal light staining or foxing, and a couple of instances of slight creasing, a very good copy internally - clean, bright and unmarked. Note that this is a heavy and oversized book, so additional postage will be required for international or priority orders. ~N~ [4.5P] A first edition of Volume 5 only of the 8-volume collection, complete unto itself. Includes a 39-page 'Catalogue of Pamphlets in the Harleian Library' at the rear of the volume. The Harleian Miscellany is a collection of material from the library of the Earl of Oxford collated and edited by Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) and William Oldys (1696-1761) between 1744 and 1753 on behalf of the publisher Thomas Osborne. The 'late Earl of Oxford' whose library was the source of the texts could refer either to Robert Harley, first Earl of Oxford and Mortimer (d. 1724), or to his son, Edward Harley, second Earl of Oxford and Mortimer (d. 1741). A passage at the beginning of the first volume emphasizes the role of Robert Harley, the first earl, in the creation of the library: 'The valuable Collection, intended to be published in this Form, was made by the Greatness of his Knowledge in all Branches of Learning, and at the vast Expence of that noble Family.' Among the dozens of rare articles and pamphlets included in this particular volume, a small sample: The Jacobite's Hopes Frustrated, Or, The History of the Calamites Attending the French Conquest (1690); The Qualifications of Persons, Declared Capable by the Rump-Parliament, to Elect or be Elected, Members to Supply their House (1660); A Compendious History of the Taxes of France, and of the Oppressive Methods of Raising Them (1694); A Relation of the Execution of James Graham, late Marquis of Montross, at Edinburgh, on Tuesday the Twenty-first of May (1650); A Discourse Touching Tangier (1680).