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COLERIDGE, Samuel Taylor (1772-1834). The Statesman's Manual; or the Bible the Best Guide to Political Skill and Foresight: A Lay Sermon Addressed to the Higher Classes of Society . London: S. Curtis for Gale and Fenner; J.M. Richardson; and Hatchard, 1816. 8 o (205 x 128 mm). (Small stain to some fore-margins, light offsetting of bookplates on inscription on front free endpaper.) Later half calf, preserving original marbled boards. Provenance : J.H.B. Williams (presentation inscription from the author; bookplate) -- "H.R.S., Jr." (bookplate) -- "KH" (small stamp in lower corner of presentation leaf) -- purchased from Scribner Rare Books, New York, 1972. FIRST EDITION. PRESENTATION COPY, WITH A LENGTHY INSCRIPTION BY THE AUTHOR TO J.H.B. WILLIAMS, ASSISTANT TO HIS PATRON JAMES GILLMAN, on the front free endpaper: "12 October, 1832. It is many, many Years, my dear Williams! since this volume was first placed in your hands; and if I do not regard you now with greater Love and Esteem than I then did, it is because even then I esteemed you thoroughly and loved you with entire affection. It is not among my least comforts that assured of your answering attachment I can subscribe myself, dear Williams! your old and stedfast Friend. S.T. Coleridge Grove, Highgate." Williams was the assistant to James Gillman of Highgate, with whom Coleridge lived from 1816 until his death (see lot 27). Realizing that his opium use had reached debilitating proportions, Coleridge in 1816 turned to Dr. Joseph Adams for assistance in his recovery. On 9 April, Adams asked Gillman if he would receive Coleridge into his family. Upon meeting Coleridge, Gillman, like most who encountered the poet, was fascinated by the poet's conversation. An immediate agreement was made between the men for Coleridge to move in on 15 April. Coleridge remained with Gillman for the rest of his life where he "led a quiet and monotonous life, soothed by the attention of his hosts and the admiration of many friends who came to wonder at his discourses" (DNB). Coleridge's correspondence records very warm feelings for Gillman, and the ten published letters to Gillman's assistant Williams show an equally strong affection. Coleridge's poignant inscription to Williams in a volume published the year they were acquainted illustrates Coleridge's great appreciation for the household that helped him regain his health and foster his literary powers in his later years. (See Collected Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge , ed. Earl Leslie Griggs, Oxford, 1956-71.) A VERY FINE ASSOCIATION COPY. Ashley I, p.204; Tinker 695; Wise Coleridge 36. [ Bound with :] COLERIDGE, Samuel Taylor. "Blessed are ye that sow beside all Waters!" A Lay Sermon, Addressed to the Higher and Middle Classes, on the existing Distresses and Discontents . London: S. Curtis for Gale and Fenner; J.M. Richardson; and J. Hatchard, 1817. 8 o . (Lacks half-title, a few ink corrections.) FIRST EDITION. Ashley I, p.205; Tinker 696; Wise IColeridge 37.