Taylor, Jane; Taylor, Isaac. Writings of Jane Taylor: with a Memoir of Her Life bound with Poetical Remains and Correspondence of the late Jane Taylor; A New Edition. Boston: Benjamin B. Mussey, 1842. [6269]
Two titles bound together, separate title pages and pagination. Maroon blindstamped cloth fading to brown, 4 x 6 inches, 96 + 144 pp., smudges & spotting on the binding and text. Tight. Good. Hardcover.
Jane Taylor (1783-1824), English poet, hymn-writer, and novelist, author of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Born to a Nonconformist family - her father was the minister of the Independent Congregation at Colchester - she learned the engraving trade as a child, being taught by her father. Jane joined a literary circle that required members to produce an original piece of prose or poetry each month, and in 1804 Jane's first poem was published, The Beggar Boy. She found an immediate audience for her poetry and other writings, often collaborating with her sister Ann, and was frequently published in the Youth's Magazine and other periodicals. She died of cancer, age 41.
The author of the Memoir and compiler of the work was the brother of Jane Taylor, the Rev. Isaac Taylor.
Isaac Taylor, LL.D. (1787-1865), the son of an Independent minister; English man of letters. Taylor studied for the ministry as an Independent, and also to enter law, and finally decided to devote himself to study and writing, becoming somewhat of a literary recluse. The results of his studies were works which were hailed as original and valuable by the leading thinkers of his day. “The name of Isaac Taylor, in connection with the philosophy of human nature, as developed in his Histories of Enthusiasm, Fanaticism, and Spiritual Despotism, in connection with his physical theories on the spiritual state, and also in connection with his more recent advocacy of the sanctity and inviolability of moral obligation, will ever hold a decided place in the history of English thinking during the nineteenth century.” – Morrell, History and Critical Review of the Speculative Philosophy of Europe in the Nineteenth Century, as quoted in Allibone, 1891.