DEFOE’S SON-IN-LAW
[BAKER, Henry]. The Universal Spectator. By Henry Stonecastle [pseud.], of Northumberland, Esq; Vol. I. [– II.] … London: Printed for J. Pemberton, A. Ward, E. Symon, J. Clarke, D. Browne, R. Nutt, T. Worral, and T. Astley. 1736.
2 vols., 12mo., pp. [4], 288, [12]; [2], 288, [12]; woodcut title vignette and headpieces; contemporary sprinkled calf, neatly rebacked and corners renewed; early ink ownership inscription and bookplate of James Hill of Southwark.
First edition: selections from the early years of The Universal Spectator, a popular weekly offering an entertaining mix of essays, stories and poems. It was founded, and largely written by Henry Baker, erstwhile apprentice to the bookseller John Parker, and then a highly successful teacher of the deaf. He later became a great populariser of science, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1741.In 1724, Baker had met Daniel Defoe, and soon began courting his daughter, Sophia. Defoe contributed an essay to the first number of his future son-in-law’s new project, 12 October 1728 (Furbank & Owens 262, albeit not one of the essays reprinted here), and the couple married the following year. Baker ceased his involvement in The Universal Spectator in 1733, although the periodical continued for another thirteen years. No complete run survives.
ESTC locates only 4 copies in North America: McMaster, Princeton, Rice, and Illinois.
£1250
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