Nathaniel Evans (1742-1767):  Poems on Several Occasions, with Some other Compositions.

First edition.

7.5 x 4.5".      xxviii, 160, 24 pages.

A resident of Haddonfield, New Jersey, Evans died of tuberculosis at the age of 25.  "A tone of cheerfulness and gaiety pervades the smaller pieces of the collection."

Surprisingly, although there is a poem in the collection honoring Benjamin Franklin, his name does not appear in the large (16-page) subscribers' list, but it does include his ill-treated son, William Franklin, at that time the Royal Governor of New Jersey.  Other prominent names include William Dunlap, Robert Eden (Royal Governor of Maryland), Andrew Elliot, Joseph Galloway, Oliver Goldsmith (!), Francis Hopkinson, John Penn (Proprietor of Pennsylvania), James Rivington, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Isaiah Thomas, Philip van Cortlandt, and "Mad" Anthony Wayne.

There are poems on his closest friend, Thomas Godfrey (1736-1763), the author of the first play written in the American colonies (The Prince of Parthia) which was also the first American play to be performed by a professional cast (reprinted in the 20th century in an anthology by Arthur Hobson Quinn).  

Contemporary full calf, worn, leather spine label mostly chipped off, front cover detached along with first 16 leaves, small bookplate on front pastedown, outer edge of front flyleaf chipped, general light toning but text o/w is clean and fresh.

John Dunlap, Philadelphia, 1772.

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