8vo. vi, [2], 104pp. Contemporary gilt-ruled sprinkled calf. Rubbed and marked, joints starting, paper shelf label to foot of spine. Early ink ownership inscription to head of title, lightly damp-stained throughout, small hole to leaf E4 (not touching text.)

A handsome copy of the first edition of English Bluestocking poet and translator Elizabeth Carter's (1717-1806) second collection of miscellaneous verse.

Although perhaps best known for her translation of Epictetus (the first into English), Carter was an accomplished English poet and friend of Samuel Johnson, who memorably referenced her when discussing the virtues of learning amongst women: 'My old friend, Mrs. Carter, could make a pudding as well as translate Epictetus from the Greek, and work a handkerchief as well as compose a poem'. Her verse was often first published in periodicals such as the Gentleman's Magazine, and indeed helped Johnson secure contributors to his own offering, The Rambler. Two prose contributions to the latter are reprinted at the end of this volume, which also unsurprisingly includes several poems inspired by classical authors including Sophocles, Ovid and Horace, and two translations from Metastasio.