Book #74864
Item #74864 A Proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor. Henry Fielding.
A Proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor...
A Proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor...

A Proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor...

Fielding's Proposals for Reform of the Poor Laws Fielding, Henry [1707-1754]. A Proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor, For Amending Their Morals, And for Rendering Them Useful Members of the Society. To Which is Added, A Plan of the Buildings Proposed, With Proper Elevations. Drawn by an Eminent Hand. London: Printed for A. Millar, 1753. iv, 91, [1] pp. Large folding diagram, publisher advertisements to final page. Octavo (8" x 5"). Later (nineteenth-century) three-quarter calf over cloth, gilt spine with title and date, marbled endpapers, folding plate mended and backed onto fabric. Small faint dampstain to lower left corner, light rubbing and a few small scuffs to boards, slight bubbling to front board, moderate rubbing to extremities, spine ends and corners bumped, hinges cracked. Moderate toning to interior, occasional light foxing, light soiling in a few places, including to folding plate, which has a small hole at intersection of fold lines and very minor loss to image in two places. $950. * Only edition, reprinted in Dublin the same year. Fielding, a writer, magistrate and founder with his brother of the Bow Street Runners, had a keen interest in social reform sparked by his work as London's chief magistrate. A complement to his Enquiry Into the Causes of the Late Increase of Robbers (1751), which discussed the social ills that led to crime among the poor, the Proposal lays out suggestions for reform of the poor laws in Middlesex County. Fielding's reforms center around the construction of a large workhouse complex and correctional facility, depicted in the elaborate folding diagram based on plans from architect Thomas Gibson. Like those that would follow in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, his proposals emphasize the necessity and dignity of work for those able to carry it out. Cross, The History of Henry Fielding III:325. English Short-Title Catalogue T4736.

Price: $950.00

Book number 74864

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