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The State of the Prisons in England [With] Historical Remarks...

Howard, John; Brossays du Perray, Joseph Marie

Remarks on Prisons in England and Abroad Howard, John [1726-1790]. The State of the Prisons in England and Wales, With Preliminary Observations, And an Account of Some Foreign Prisons and Hospitals. Warrington: Printed by William Eyres; And Sold by T. Cadell in the Strand, And N. Conant in Fleet-Street, 1780. [viii], 449, [19] pp. With 11 engraved copperplate illustrations and diagrams, 9 folding. [Bound with] [Brossays du Perray, Joseph Marie]. [Howard, John, Editor]. Historical Remarks and Anecdotes on the Castle of the Bastille. Translated from the French Published in 1774. London: Printed for T. Cadell, And N. Conant, 1780. [vi], 29, [1] pp. With a folding engraved copperplate frontispiece diagram of the Bastille. Octavo (9" x 5-1/2"). Later three-quarter morocco over marbled boards, blind rules to morocco edges, gilt-edged raised bands and gilt title and author name to spine, top-edge gilt, fore and bottom edges rouged. Light rubbing to boards, moderate rubbing to extremities, faint offsetting to free endpapers, recent pencil annotations to front free endpaper. Light toning to interior, faint offsetting from plates, one of which has a clean tear neatly mended on verso not affecting image, light foxing and soiling in a few places. A nice copy of two important titles. $450. * Prisons: second edition; Historical Remarks: first English edition. After being shocked by the conditions of his county prison as high sheriff, Howard dedicated himself to touring hundreds of prisons in Great Britain and Western Europe and reporting on their conditions. His primary focus was on improving hygiene and cleanliness by reducing overcrowding; The State of the Prisons is credited with establishing the practice of single-celling in the United Kingdom. The first edition appeared in 1777 and the final edition in 1792. Historical Remarks, published anonymously but attributed to French author Brossays du Perray, is "a very interesting and instructive comparison between the horrors of despotic power, and the mild and just administration of equal laws in a free state" (Advertisement). Howard procured the first English translation and provided a brief forward. English Short-Title Catalogue T83449, T36327.

Price: $450.00

Book number 73989