The State of the Prisons in England and Wales, With Preliminary...
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. Warrington: Printed by William Eyres; and sold by T. Cadell, J. Johnson, and C. Dilly, in London, 1784. [vi], 492, [18] pp. Lacking half-title. With 22 copperplate diagrams and illustrations, 15 of which are folding. Quarto (11-1/2" x 9-1/4"). Contemporary tree calf, gilt fillets to boards, rebacked and recornered in period style calf with blind fillets, gilt date and retained lettering piece to spine, gilt tooling to board edges, marbled endpapers, cloth hinges. Light rubbing to boards, some shallow scuffing to rear board, moderate rubbing and light wear to board edges, fore-edge of rear board reinforced with calf, corners bumped, armorial bookplate (of William Lloyd Esqr, Aston) to front pastedown, faint dampstaining to endleaves. Light toning to interior, occasional faint dampstaining, light foxing and soiling in places, minor edgewear and tears to some plates, faint offsetting from plates to other sections of plates and adjacent leaves. $500. * Third 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. He reported his findings in The State of the Prisons, which was to quote Printing and the Mind of Man, "the first major practical work on the subject." A vivid synthesis of factual data and moral outrage, it called for drastic improvements in the housing, cleanliness and care of prisoners. Within a year of its publication it inspired a bill that established two prisons with plans based on Howard's recommendations. The first edition was published in 1777 and the fourth and final edition in 1792. Printing and the Mind of Man 224 (citing first edition). English Short-Title Catalogue T115096.
Price: $500.00
Book number 75948