JAMES DANCE] Cricket. An heroic poem. Illustrated with the critical observations of Scriblerus Maximus London: W. Bickerton, [1744]. 4to. (9¾ x 7in; 241 x 177mm), woodcut title vignette (title and final leaf with laminated repairs), early 20th-century blue morocco gilt, front cover with title lettering in the outer compartment of a double panel, flat spine, gilt edges (front cover slightly bowed). Provenance : "a superb copy ... exchanged for Cricket: a Weekly Record " (Eagar Catalogue note). THE RARE FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST SEPARATELY-PUBLISHED POEM ON CRICKET. James Dance (1722-1774), who assumed the name of Love as a compliment to his wife, a Miss Lamour, was twenty-two when he wrote it. The mock-heroic couplets describe the match between Kent and England played on the Artillery Ground on 2 June, 1744, and the work is dedicated to John, Earl of Sandwich, cricket's "illustrious patron". The disappointed patron of the England team, largely drawn from the Sussex village of Slindon, was Charles Lennox 2nd Duke of Richmond, grandson of Charles II. As many as twenty-three lines are devoted to the catch which dismissed Richard Newland, the England champion, in his second innings. Striving to bowl out Kent, England could still have won the match by three notches had the normally reliable Waymark held onto a "soaring" catch, but the poem relates how: "The erring Ball, amazing to be told!/Slip'd thro' his out-stretch'd Hand, and mock'd his Hold," allowing "the Sons of Kent" to "compleat the Game/And firmly fix their everlasting Fame." Foxon locates copies at BL, Trinity College, Cambridge, and MCC. Foxon English Verse 1701-1750 D22; Allen 2; Britton p. 29; Goldman p. 52: "the first edition is invaluable"; Taylor p. 68; Padwick 6445.
JAMES DANCE] Cricket. An heroic poem. Illustrated with the critical observations of Scriblerus Maximus London: W. Bickerton, [1744]. 4to. (9¾ x 7in; 241 x 177mm), woodcut title vignette (title and final leaf with laminated repairs), early 20th-century blue morocco gilt, front cover with title lettering in the outer compartment of a double panel, flat spine, gilt edges (front cover slightly bowed). Provenance : "a superb copy ... exchanged for Cricket: a Weekly Record " (Eagar Catalogue note). THE RARE FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST SEPARATELY-PUBLISHED POEM ON CRICKET. James Dance (1722-1774), who assumed the name of Love as a compliment to his wife, a Miss Lamour, was twenty-two when he wrote it. The mock-heroic couplets describe the match between Kent and England played on the Artillery Ground on 2 June, 1744, and the work is dedicated to John, Earl of Sandwich, cricket's "illustrious patron". The disappointed patron of the England team, largely drawn from the Sussex village of Slindon, was Charles Lennox 2nd Duke of Richmond, grandson of Charles II. As many as twenty-three lines are devoted to the catch which dismissed Richard Newland, the England champion, in his second innings. Striving to bowl out Kent, England could still have won the match by three notches had the normally reliable Waymark held onto a "soaring" catch, but the poem relates how: "The erring Ball, amazing to be told!/Slip'd thro' his out-stretch'd Hand, and mock'd his Hold," allowing "the Sons of Kent" to "compleat the Game/And firmly fix their everlasting Fame." Foxon locates copies at BL, Trinity College, Cambridge, and MCC. Foxon English Verse 1701-1750 D22; Allen 2; Britton p. 29; Goldman p. 52: "the first edition is invaluable"; Taylor p. 68; Padwick 6445.
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
