London. Printed by C. Roworth for John White. 1801. pp. (iv), v, (iii), B - Z4, Aa -ff4 (224) i of adverts. 4to. Full calf, spine relaid rather clumsily. 1st edition. ODNB. George Mason 1735 - 1806 was a writer and book collector. 'His friend and neighbour, Georgiana, Countess Spencer, wrote in 1786 that Mason 'has but one good room in his house but that is a very Curious & Valuable Library of chiefly Greek Latin & Italien books'. Rare early English works also in his collection included Pynson's original edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, two early editions of Le Morte d'Arthur, and Caxton's Blanchardyn and Eglantine. A 'singular turn' noted by Lady Spencer was that Mason planned 'to have a book printed in every year from 1467 to the present time' (BL, letters to Caroline Howe).' Due to financial difficulties 'He sold a considerable part of his library in four sales between January 1798 and April 1799, raising about £2500, including £73 10s. for a perfect copy of Dame Juliana Berners's Boke of Haukyng and Huntyng (1486). Dibdin comments that 'it must have been a little heart-breaking for the collector to have seen his beautiful library, the harvest of many a year's hard reaping, melting away piece-meal, like a snow-ball' (Dibdin, 419n.). Mason's belligerent Supplement to Johnson's English Dictionary (1801), intended to rectify Johnson's 'palpable errors' and supply his 'material omissions', received a hostile notice in the British Critic...'

Order Number: 19061