Douanes

Two Parts. pp. 56: 48. Illustrated with top margin woodcuts. 4to. Original full purple cloth binding. Edges sun faded. Owned by Judge Mayer Sulzberger (1843-1923). XLib. [Dropsie College]. Scarce reprint of the rare original 1700's edition. Interesting poems describing public houses (Pubs) in London and Westminister during the 1700's. Describes the kinds of beers they served and the sorts of people that frequented them. Wood cut images accompany each verse. Ward (1667-1731), was a humourist, of `low extraction' and with little education. In early life he visited the West Indies, and afterwards he began business as a publican in Moorfields. By 1699 he had moved to Fulwood's Rents, where he kept a punch-shop and tavern (probably the King's Head), next door to Gray's Inn, until his death. Giles Jacob (Poetical Register, 1723) says: `Of late years he has kept a public-house in the city (but in a genteel way), and with his wit, humour, and good liquor, has afforded his guests a pleasurable entertainment; especially the high-church party. A man of considerable natural parts and with a gift of humour, `Ned Ward,' as he is frequently called, imitated Butler's `Hudibras' both in his style and in his attacks on the Whigs and low-church party. Though vulgar and often grossly coarse, his writings throw considerable light on the social life of the time of Queen Anne, and especially on the habits of various classes in London; but much allowance has to be made for exaggeration" - DNB. **PRICE JUST REDUCED! WHISKEY 4