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| Detail. Christopher
Anstey, The priest dissected : a poem. Bath: Printed by S.
Hazard, 1774. deB Ec/1774/A |
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Mythogelastik Professor
The first edition of John Hall-Stevenson's Makarony fables appeared in late February 1767 under the pseudonym of ‘Cosmos, Mythogelastik Professor, and F. M. S.' Written in the mode of Aesop, it contained more political squibs against the opponents of John Wilkes, mainly John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute. Hall-Stevenson (1718-1785) was a friend of Laurence Sterne, and was said to be the original of Eugenius in Tristam Shandy. He was a somewhat eccentric squire of Skelton Hall (‘Crazy Castle'), in the Cleveland district of Yorkshire. This is the third edition of Makarony, which proves that his coarse, sometimes indecent, verse satires did have some currency.
An English rhymester
There is an old saying that some writers have only one book in them. A masterpiece is produced which gains great success; what follows is a mere shadow. Such is the case with Christopher Anstey (1724-1805), an English rhymester, who had a huge success with his New Bath Guide (1766), a gossipy set of letters in verse describing life at Bath. Of it, poet Wharton said: ‘It is the only thing in fashion, and is a new and original kind of humour.' The priest dissected was one of Anstey's later satires and, although it commanded three editions in the one year, it did not met with the same success. This is the first Bath edition.
Links
Prints from the New Bath Guide