protests ‘the less change the better’, aiming to devolve the executive powers of the crown to councils elected from and under the control of parliament, in a system of rotation, and with a reduction in the independence of the Lords” (ibid.). Small octavo (154 × 90 mm). Contemporary sprinkled calf, rebacked preserving remnants of original spine, new red morocco label. Rear pastedown with 19th-century armorial bookplate of Anthony G. Wright Biddolph and duplication stamp of the Huntington Library, neat early ownership signature “John” to front pastedown. One corner repaired with others a little worn, inner hinges discreetly reinforced, without free endpapers, contents (complete with initial blank) clean and crisp. A very good copy. ¶ ESTC R3321; Wing N513. £2,000 [145751] 120 NIGHTINGALE, Florence. Notes on Nursing: what it is, and what it is not. London: Harrison, bookseller to the Queen, 1860 Presentation copy to her fellow Nightingale school instructor John Croft Second edition, a superb presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title to her fellow instructor at the Nightingale School: “Offered to John Croft Esq. with Florence Nightingale’s sincerest joy at finding herself his fellow-worker in the Nurse-training business London 1873”. A senior surgeon at St Thomas’s Hospital, John Croft (1833–1905) was introduced to the Nightingale School in early 1873, at the recommendation of Nightingale, to replace Richard Whitfield. The inscription strongly suggests that Nightingale presented her new colleague with this copy of Notes on Nursing on his appointment, choosing the most pertinent and complete edition of Notes for his professional use. Croft was instrumental in revitalising the School’s training scheme, and his revised syllabus and reading list were approved by Nightingale “without question” (McDonald 2009, p. 40). It was Croft who introduced germ theory and information on disinfectants and antiseptics into the curriculum, despite Nightingale’s own reservations on the subject. Notes on Nursing was a hugely significant text for Croft, and his lectures borrowed extensively from its contents. On Croft’s retirement Nightingale wrote him a “glowing letter of appreciation” (McDonald, p. 188). They kept in touch – he visited her as late as 1900 – and she left him £100 in her will, though he predeceased her. Originally published six months before the opening of the Nightingale School at St Thomas’s Hospital in London in June 1860, Notes on Nursing was not intended to be a textbook per se but as a book of hints for those nursing in the hospital ward and in the domestic sick room. Designated by Nightingale the Library Standard edition, this is the “fullest and most sophisticated” version of this landmark text on nursing (Skretkowicz), and was intended for use as a reference work by professionals. It was published in July 1860 in a print run of 2,000 copies, in two bindings: deluxe “extra cloth”, priced 6s. and, as seen the present copy, “black or blue-black semi-hard covers, with scrollwork at the corners . . . probably priced at five shillings” (Skretkowicz, p. 7).
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119 NEVILLE, Henry. Plato Redivivus: or, A dialogue concerning government. London: Printed for S.I., 1681 His “most enduring political treatise” First edition of Neville’s “most enduring political treatise” ( ODNB ), a significant work of English republican thought following the Restoration. “Ostensibly reconciled to monarchy, Neville now sees it as consistent with the Harringtonian principle that ‘Dominion is founded in property’. England had historically been governed by a limited or mixed monarchy, featuring an appropriate balance of crown and aristocracy, which had since Bosworth field ‘been decaying for near two hundred years’. Modern more absolute monarchy had destroyed that balance, even though the ever widening distribution of property meant that the gentry should have acquired more rather than less ‘empire’ by the present day . . . he advocates that the present distribution of property find some better reflection in constitutional arrangements. But he also urges that the ancient constitution should issue in a much more popular form of government, in which monarchy plays a much smaller part. Thus he finally demands more revolutionary changes after all, even as he
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