THE WORKS OF SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE, BART. IN TWO VOLUMES. TO WHICH IS PREFIX'D SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF THE AUTHOR.

London: Printed for A. Churchill, T. Goodwin, J. Knapton, R. Smith, et al., 1720. 480 pp, 585 pp, 12 3/4" H. The first collected edition. Contemporary leather binding with five raised bands on spines, blind stamped decoration on front/rear boards. Original spine labels have been replaced with newer black leather labels with gilt lettering/banding. **Lacks frontispiece portrait.** The first section of Volume I is titled "Observations upon the United Provinces of the Netherlands" and is followed by three sections of Miscellanea, with essays on Trade in Ireland; Ancient and Modern Learning; the Gardens of Epicurus; or, Gardening; Health and Long Life; etc. Volume II consists of "Letters written by Sir William Temple, Bart. and other Ministers of State, both at Home and Abroad. Containing an Account of the most Important Transactions That pass'd in Christendom from 1665 to 1672. Reviewed by Sir W. Temple some time before his Death" Sir William Temple (1628-1699) was an English diplomat, statesman and essayist. He was the driving force behind the Triple Alliance signed in 1668 between the Swedish Empire, the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of England. After retiring from public life, he took great pleasure in landscape gardening and was recognized for his essays on that, and many other, subjects. From 1689 until his death in 1699, he employed Jonathan Swift as his secretary and was a great influence on Swift's own writing. Interiors - both volumes have light browning to the edges of the pastedowns and some dust marking, the front and rear inside hinge paper is split, vol. II has a corner piece (2"x3") is missing and a 1/2" open tear is on the last blank page and a 1" open tear and a fore-edge crease on the rear free endpaper, there is a previous owner's modern bookplate on the front pastedown of vol. I, an old 1 1/4" sq label with ink notation is on the front pastedown of vol. II, all pages in both volumes are wavy and have minimal spotting/toning - generally clean and bright except for some light dust marks at in the top margin. Exteriors - both volumes have had some old leather repairs to the hinges - mostly on vol. II, there are splits in the hinge leather (mostly vol. I) but the boards are holding well at the bands, corners are bumped and there are one or two shallow edge bumps, all edges and the top/bottom of the spines are worn, there is rubbing and scattered small dents on the boards, the leather have a rich warm colour. Volume I has a small area of tiny stains on the fore-edge of the ext block. This is a very heavy set and will require extra postage outside of Canada/United States.. Not Signed. First Edition. Hard Covers. Good.