BUTLER, Samuel. Hudibras. In Three Parts. C. Bathurst / E. Johnson et al., London, 1775. 8vo, contemporary full leather binding, gilt vignettes to spine, title piece, frontispiece, 16 plates, xi, 13-401 pp., [17] pp. (index); nice copy, joints partly splitting, small loss of leather to front board, slight wear to head and tail, clean and bright interior
New edition of this religious satire by Samuel Butler (1612-1680), illustrated with plates by William Hogarth. Butler’s epic poem satirizes the hypocrisy and absurdity of religious and political extremism during the English Civil War. The protagonist, Sir Hudibras, is a ridiculous knight who embodies these flaws, and the poem follows his misadventures in a mock-heroic style.
