Oldham, John

SATYRS UPON THE JESUITS: WRITTEN IN THE. YEAR 1679, AND SOME OTHER PIECES BY THE SAME HAND [Bound With] SOME NEW PIECES NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHT; [Bound With]: POEMS AND TRANSLATIONS; [Bound With} REMAINS OF MR. JOHN OLDHAM IN VERSE AND PROSE; [Bound With] TO THE MEMORY OF MR. CHARLES MORWENT. A PINDARIQUE; [Bound With] CHARACTER OF A CERTAIN UGLY OLD P_______; (SIX SEPARATE WORKS IN ONE BINDING)

London, England: Printed for Joseph Hindmarsh, Bookseller to his Royal Highness, at the Black Bull in Cornhill, 1682; 1681; 1684; 1684. Hardcover. 8vo. 7 1/2" x 4 3/4". Six works in one volume. Full contemporary speckled calf, double ruled in blind.. Scuffing to edges and corners, and heavily chipped spine with considerable loss of leather. Bottom headband broken. Armorial bookplate of John Headlam, MA. to front pastedown endpaper. The four works include: * Satyrs upon the Jesuits: Written in the Year 1679. And Some Other Pieces by the Same Hand, Octavo, pp. [8], 148 ESTC R3086 * Some New Pieces Never Before Publisht. By the Author of the Satyrs upon the Jesuits, pp. [10],134, [2] ESTC R12528 * Poems and Translations. By the Author of The Satyrs upon the Jesuits, pp. [6], 215, [1] ESTC R188712 * Remains of Mr. John Oldham in Verse and Prose, pp. [24], 80, 83-130 (ESTC R3038).

Ownership inscription to front free endpaper, "Henry Milner's book given me by my Brother in Law John Martindale in the Year of our Lord 1743." Second inscription on title page, "Gil[lan]by Hall". Interior clean throughout, lightly tanned pages. Very Good. Item #82812

The esteemed poet John Oldham was born in Gloucestershire in 1653. In the 1670s, his poetry circulated in manuscript form, gaining acclaim amongst elite circles. His first substantial volume, however, was Satyrs Upon the Jesuits, of which this is the second edition (Oxford DNB). The work was prompted by the infamous Popish Plot, a conspiracy that wracked the city of London with fears of a Jesuit insurrection. During the height of the Plot (which years later was revealed to be entirely fabricated), anti-Catholic sentiment ran high.

In Satyrs Upon the Jesuits, Oldham's biting satire lampoons Jesuits for their murderous, treacherous ways. Paul Hammond writes, "They are robust, vigorous work, rough in versification, coarse in vocabulary, and unsparing in their vilification of Catholic beliefs. They demonstrate Oldham's mastery of the couplet forms, and his continuing interest in heroic satirical modes." (Oxford DNB)

Although Satyrs Upon the Jesuits is his most well-known work, Oldham's other works were more edifying, of which are included in this volume. In 1683, Oldham died of smallpox, at the young age of 30.

EPIGRAPH to the final work reads (in part):
Assist ye nasty Powers
To describe him thorowout;
I'll dip my pen in Turd,
And write upon a shitten Clout.
(Tartaret, de modo Cacandi. p.9).

Price: $700.00