The works of John Oldham, together with his remains.

London : printed for Jo. Hindmarsh, bookseller to his Royal Highness, at the Black Bull in Cornhil, 1684 [and 1685]. First collected edition. Four parts in one volume, octavo (190 mm), contemporary full calf (boards scuffed), spine with raised bands, gilt decoration and contrasting leather title piece lettered in gilt; pp. [8], 148 (Satyrs upon the Jesuits; in this part, The Passion of Biblis has a separate title page dated 1685), [8], [2 blank], 134 (Some new pieces never before publish’d), [2 blank], [6], 215 (Poems, and translations), [1 blank], [24], 130 (Remains of Mr. John Oldham in verse and prose; in this part, the pagination skips from 80 to 83, and To the memory of Mr. Charles Morwent and Character of a certain ugly old p- have separate title pages); hinges cracked, top edges closely trimmed (but no loss of text), some worming to lower margins of leaves in the first part, mild damp staining to fore-edges of a few leaves in the last part, otherwise internally excellent.

The first collected edition of the works of English satirical poet and translator John Oldham (1653-1683) was published posthumously, not long after his death from smallpox in December 1683. It contains his satires against the Jesuits, written in 1678-9 at a time when anti-Catholic sentiment was being stirred up in England by the so-called “Popish plot” – the totally fictitious but widely believed rumour of a Jesuit conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II in order to bring his Roman Catholic brother, the Duke of York (afterward King James II) to the throne. Also included are numerous examples of Oldham’s elegant translations from the Latin and Greek of works by Classical writers.

Wing O225, O246, O249, O238; Brooks 18, 9, 11, 12