8vo. [4], 112pp. With a half-title. Contemporary speckled calf, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece. A trifle rubbed. Inked ownership inscription of C. Preston (dated 1812), later armorial bookplate of John Norcliffe Preston, and recent bookplate of Kenneth Monkman of Shandy Hall to FEP.

The first edition of the first published work of poet Kenrick Prescot, of whom little is known. The Monthly Review said of the work: 'In this treatise the behaviour of Saint Paul of Athens is examined, and his zeal, his eloquence, and his knowledge are mush insisted upon. The critical parts of it are not destitute of merit, but we must observe, that Dr. Prescot does not write in the most agreeable or engaging manner, and that there is nothing, perhaps, very important in his reasonings or conclusions. St. Paul, we should think, has not been very fortunate in his panegyrist'. Prescot produced four further works in successive years between 1771 and 1774; two volumes of poetry, a treatise on the writings of Horace, and an essay on Shakespeare - all of which were largely ignored.

Kenneth Monkman (1911-1998), book collector and resident curator of Shandy Hall, the former home of Laurence Sterne (1713-1768), where the author wrote the majority of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759-67). Monkman established the Laurence Sterne Trust in 1967 with the aim of restoring the hall. The house contains perhaps the largest collection of Sterneiana in the world.