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SPEAKER, The. The Speaker. A Poem Inscrib’d to Alan Brodrick

Currency:EUR Category:Antiques / Books & Manuscripts Start Price:10.00 EUR Estimated At:400.00 - 500.00 EUR
SPEAKER, The. The Speaker. A Poem Inscrib’d to Alan Brodrick

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Auction Date:2012 Oct 20 @ 11:00 (UTC+1)
Location:38 Molesworth Street, Dublin, Dublin, ., Ireland
SPEAKER, The. The Speaker. A Poem Inscrib’d to Alan Brodrick, Esq ; Speaker to the Honourable House of Commons, Met at Dublin , November the 25th, 1713. Before his Grace the Duke of Shrewsbury. No publisher, printer, place or date, but Dublin [1713]FIRST (ONLY) EDITION, drop-title, 4-pages, 4to, small piece torn from inner upper blank margin, well clear of text : unbound, a little browning but a very good copy. Efusive praise of the politician soon to become Lord Chancellor of Ireland. There are references to him in Swift’s correspondence and especially in the Journal to Stella where, in July of 1711 when Swift was visiting London, he mentioned that Brodrick was in town, and “violent as a tiger.” The two men came to know each other better during the controversy about Wood’s halfpence which led to Swift’s Drapier’s Letters, one of which was dedicated to Brodrick. Brodrick “had private meetings with Swift during the controversy” (ODNB) but publicly “advocated the prosecution of the author of the Drapier’s Letters.” The occasion of the present pamphlet was Brodrick’s return to power as Speaker of the Irish House of Commons after being out of office for two years. He was returned at the 1713 election, held under the lord lieutenancy of the Duke of Shrewsbury, and presumably the date in the title of the poem refers to the occasion of his being chosen as speaker, in a contest with a court-sponsored Tory candidate. “High o’re the rest Great Brodrick mounts the Chair, / Mysterious was his Countenance and Air. . . / Mirror of Eloquence! Illustrious Shade! / Lift up great Tully, Raise thy Rev’rend Head. / See Roman Eloquence and Right Revives, / Consul observe, thy Genius in our Speaker lives … “ Foxon S620. What was presumably a Tory reply, A Letter to the Author of the Speaker, appeared soon after. Of the present pamphlet seven opies are recorded : Foxon L, C, Dk, DT / ICU and ESTC adds D and Lhl.ENGLISH PRE 1801; DUBLIN PRINTED; ENGLISH LITERATURE; VERSE; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;