Beschreibung:

West Country Poet.- Webb (Francis) Poems On Wisdom, On the Deity, On Genius, first edition, half-title, with mezzotint portrait of Webb tipped in as frontispiece (trimmed), Salisbury, E.Easton, 1790; Hymn to the Dryads inscribed to Dr. Turton, 1796; Ode to the Rural Nymphs, written at Comb-Bank inscribed to Lord Frederick Campbell 1801; Somerset, a Poem, with final blank, 1811, Friendship: a Poem inscribed to a Friend..., presentation copy from the author to Maria Milner inscribed at head of half-title (partly erased by water and lightly stained), etched title vignette, for G.Kearsly..., 1769; An Epistle to the Rev. Mr.Kell with an Ode to Fortitude, Salisbury, E.Easton, 1788, together 6 works in 1 vol., first editions, the second, third and fourth items with engraved head-piece, Hannah Webb's copy with her signature and manuscript list of contents on front free endpaper, some light foxing, mostly to fourth item, slight worming to outer margin of last two works, contemporary calf, spine gilt, rubbed, head of spine worn, 4to ⁂ Francis Webb (1735-1815) was born in Taunton and was a non-conformist minister but in 1766 he retired from the ministry and became a writer, including mistakenly giving his support to William Henry Ireland's Shakespearian forgeries being genuine. In 1801 he travelled to Europe as Francis Jackson's secretary at the negotiations for the Treaty of Amiens and acted as an intermediary with the French. He married Hannah Milner of Poole in 1764. Although the fifth item Friendship, a Poem is anonymous and the author unidentified on ESTC and COPAC it is clear that the author must be Webb. All the items are scarce, with between 2 and 4 UK copies of each listed by ESTC or COPAC (all in BL, and mostly Oxford and/or Cambridge).