Blair, Hugh. Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres (2 volume set) with 1815 American bookplate. Brooklyn: Printed by Thomas Kirk, 1812. Fifth American, from the Last London Edition. [11730]
Two volumes in full calf, red leather spine title labels, 8 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches, joints good, tight. Volume one with rodent damage along the top board edges, and lacks about 20% of the leather at the bottom of the front board. The binding of volume two is very good and undamaged. vii, 384; 376 pages, foxing throughout. Volume 2 with printed oval bookplate of Gershom Powers, Auburn, 1815. Good. Hardcover.
The former owner, Gershom Powers (1789-1831), b. Croydon, NH; d. Auburn, NY. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1810. Powers was warden of Auburn Prison (1820-23) and inspector of Auburn prison (1830-31). He served one term in the US Congress (1829-1831) as a Jacksonian Democrat, declining re-election after his term.
Hugh Blair (1718-1800), b. Edinburgh, Scotland, where he gained fame as a minister of the Established Church. He published both Sermons and Lectures on Rhetoric, which were both extremely popular. He became Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in the University of Edinburgh, and his sermons and lectures are considered to be pre-eminent examples of the elegance and style of eighteenth century Scottish oratory.
"Blair was a member, along with David Hume, Alexander Carlyle, Adam Fergusson, William Robertson, Adam Smith and others, of the Poker Club and defended Lord Kames when he was accused of infidelity on account of his Essays on Morality." - H. R. Sefton, Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology.
