An Apology for the Life of Mr. Bampfylde-Moore Carew, Commonly call'd the King of the Beggars ....
London: Printed for R. Goadby, and W. Owen, [1750?]. 'Second Edition with Considerable additions.'. Hardcover, Octavo. xx + iv + 240pp. Old calf beautifully restored, later leather spine; original leather of boards neatly laid down, gilt stamped title label between raised bands. The full title reads: An Apology for the Life of Mr. Bampfylde-Moore Carew, Commonly call'd the King of the Beggars; Being an impartial account of his life, from his leaving Tiverton School, at the age of Fifteen, and entering into a Society of Gypsies to the present time; wherein the motives of his conduct will be explained, and the great number of characters and shapes he has appeared in through Great Britain, Ireland and Several other places of Europe be related, with his travels twice through great part of America. A particular account of the Original, Government, Language, Laws and Customs of the Gypsies; their method of electing their King, & c. And a parallel drawn after the manner of Plutarch between Mr. Bampfylde-Moore Carew and Mr. Thomas Jones. Bampfylde Moore, "King of the gypsies", was born in July 1693, at Bickley, near Tiverton, where his father was the rector. Following some youthful misadventure he fled home and joined a band of gypsies, beginning a long career as a swindler of great ingenuity. He lived a time in Newfoundland, before returning to England where he married, and, on the death of the famed Gypsy leader Clause Patch, was appointed as "king of the gipsies." He was eventually convicted of vagrancy and transported to Maryland, from where he eventually escaped to Pennsylvania. He continued his artful deceits throughout North America, before returning again to England, and thence to Scotland. He supposedly accompanied the Pretender to Carlisle, and continued, as ever, with his extraordinary deceits and rogueries. He is thought to have died in 1770. Authorship of the book is variously attributed to Robert Goadby or Carew's wife. Some copies of the book are said to have had a frontis-piece, in our experience this was only the later editions, and we have not seen one of this vintage with one (thus the British Library list a copy of this edition in their catalogue, but makes no reference to it having a frontispiece). Binding restored, as noted above, contemporary (?) previous owner's name neatly inked on fore-edge, pages somewhat darkened, but still a very nice, clean copy. Item #26367
Price: $300.00