1826 Considerations Addressed to the Heritors and Kirk-Sessions of Scotland on the Administration of the Affairs of the Poor

Description

First Edition, Illustrated, Leather Binding, Signed, Very Scarce

With the inscription 'to the Lady Robert Manners, as a small expression of great respect and esteem, this little volume is presented, by Her Ladyship most obedient and very humble servant, The Author', dated October 1826, to the recto of a front endpaper.

Mary Degg, Lady Manners, was described as a great beauty. An imposing portrait of her later life - completed in 1826, the same year as the publication of this work - by Sir Thomas Lawrence hangs in the National Galleries of Scotland.

The very scarce first edition of William Stark's address to the lowest court of the Church of Scotland regarding the administration of the affairs of the poor, specifically in the border counties. He analyses the social problems presented by the poor, and Christian ethics more broadly, with the final chapter dedicated to a 'scriptural view of the questions at issue'.

Stark was a dedicated member of the Church of Scotland, serving as minister of Dirleton Kirk from 1805 to 1835.

With the illustrated bookplate of British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and sportsman Peter Markham Scott to the front pastedown. Scott was the only child of Antarctic explorer Sir Robert Falcon Scott.

A beautifully bound author's presentation copy of this very scarce work.