A Historical Survey of the Customs, Habits, & Present State of the Gypsies; Designed to develope the Origin of this Singular People, and to promote the Amelioration of their Condition.
London: Wm. Alexander York, 1816. First Edition. Hardcover. Large 8vo, viii, 9-266pp [2 pp. ads] Original paper covered boards, paper title label on spine. Fore and bottom edges untrimmed. The author, John Hoyland (1750-1831) was a Yorkshire Quaker, who had great sympathy for the plight of British Gypsies - to the extent that he is said to have fallen in love with and (possibly) secretly married a gypsy woman. He set about compiling this work, as a basis for "ameliorating the condition of the Gypsies." While the broader historical background is largely and avowedley drawn from Grellmann’s "Historischer Versuch Uber Die Zigeuner" (1787) Hoyland made extensive use of questionaires sent to local authorities to gain information on contemporary gypsy life in England. He was not only the first to do so, but his work long remained a standard on the subject. Whilst much of the book is either historical, or a survey of gypsy society at the time, also contains considerable material on gypsy lore, beliefs, etc. Boards chafed with bumping to corners and edges, all extremities well rubbed, spine chipping but intact, hinges letting go - but both are holding, endpapers toned with previous owner's name in pencil, a very few scattered pencil marks to text and rear endpaper (easily erased) and two or three paragraphs have a vertical thin vertical line drawn next to them, otherwise text is remarkably fresh and bright. Extremely unusual to be found thus, untrimmed, in what is almost certainly its original binding. Given the age and fragile binding, overall VG. Item #10446
Price: $200.00