WALKER, Joseph Cooper.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Historical Memoir on Italian Tragedy, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time: First edition, from the library of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (1779-1848), prime minister from 1835 to 1841, with his ownership signature on the title page and the bookplate of Panshanger, the Hertfordshire seat of the Earl Cowper, where Melbourne's papers were deposited (Melbourne's sister married the Earl).The Irish antiquary Walker (1762-1810) "laboured with great and exemplary diligence in the illustration of his subject" (Lowndes). Many scarce works are described and the scholarship is scrupulous, but perhaps weakened by its indiscriminately laudatory attitude towards the Italian tradition.

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