The Works of Dr. Jonathan Swift in 12 Volumes, Accurately Revised (24 Volumes) Vols. 1-18 (1766, Bathurst) , ( 3 Vols. Letters Written by Swift, 1768, Daviesm 7th Ed. ) (3 Vols. Letters Bathurst, 1769, 3rd Ed. )

London, England: C. Bathurst, J. Rivington, W. Strahan, B. Collins, Et Al.. Good. 1766. 2nd Printing thus. Hardcover. Copper plate; Second printing of the small Octavo Hawkesworth edition. Illustrated with copperplate illustrations. All volumes are full leather with raised bands and gilt lines on each side of the band. There is a thin leather (lighter brown) title adhered to the second bands of each book, along with gilt numbers on the third band down. The set is in Good only condition. Each volume includes personalized bookplates - on the front pastedown page: Lt. Col. L. Holwell (bookplate by Strongitharm Sc. Dean St. Soho) , the other bookplate is on the front endpaper: Luther A. Brewer of Cedar Rapids, IA - a more generic plate). The first volume has split down the center of the text block (vertically) and the front board is detached. About half of the volumes have either detached front or rear hinges, or have cracked hinges. The text pages are all clean and bright. "During his visits to England in these years, Swift published A Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books (1704) and began to gain a reputation as a writer. This led to close, lifelong friendships with Alexander Pope, John Gay, and John Arbuthnot, forming the core of the Martinus Scriblerus Club (founded in 1713). Swift became increasingly active politically in these years. Swift supported the Glorious Revolution and early in his life belonged to the Whigs. As a member of the Anglican Church, he feared a return of the Catholic monarchy and "Papist" absolutism. From 1707 to 1709 and again in 1710, Swift was in London unsuccessfully urging upon the Whig administration of Lord Godolphin the claims of the Irish clergy to the First-Fruits and Twentieths ("Queen Anne's Bounty") , which brought in about £2,500 a year, already granted to their brethren in England. He found the opposition Tory leadership more sympathetic to his cause, and, when they came to power in 1710, he was recruited to support their cause as editor of The Examiner. In 1711, Swift published the political pamphlet The Conduct of the Allies, attacking the Whig government for its inability to end the prolonged war with France. The incoming Tory government conducted secret (and illegal) negotiations with France, resulting in the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) ending the War of the Spanish Succession. " (from Wikipedia) .