Title: List of the Society for the Encouragement of...
Publisher: [London: Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.]
Publication Date: 1759
Binding: No Binding
Book Condition: Very Good
Edition: 1st
39, [1] printed pages. Printed March 21st 1759. Partly unopened. Lower and fore edges uncut. 15 x 23 cm. Stab bound and tied with original string. Very slightly soiled through light handling on front and back leaves. The Royal Society of Arts emerged from the golden era of Old English Coffee Houses to be founded by William Shipley in 1754. 1759 was described then as an Annus Mirabilis, when Candide and Tristram Shandy were published, colonialism flourished, the future emergence of the United States was virtually guaranteed & in December of that year, in St James's Street, Dublin, a brewery was founded by Arthur Guinness. The Slave Trade was also then at its evil and unforgivable height. The RSA membership in 1755 of just over a hundred grew to its peak in the 1760s, when there were over two thousand individuals. This ephemeral publication comprises a List of the President, Vice-Presidents & 894 full names of the 1759 RSA membership that drew on members of the prestigious Royal Society, as well as receiving subscriptions from influential political and social groups. Subscribers in this 1759 list included eminent figures such as Jeremy Bentham, Samuel Richardson, Joshua Reynolds, Allan Ramsay, Robert Adam, John Howard, David Garrick, Jonas Hanway, and Samuel Johnson. The RSA was unusual in not discriminating against female member participation, noting in 1753 that Ladies as well as Gentlemen are invited into this Subscription, as there is no Reason to imagine they will be behind Hand in a generous and sincere Regard for the Good of their Country. 1759 female membership comprised of bluestocking Elizabeth Montagu who joined in 1758, the Countess of Denbigh, & Lady Betty Germain, a philanthropist and correspondedent. In 1759 the lyrics for the song Heart of Oak were written by David Garrick, listed here. Jonas Hanway, author in 1759 of Thoughts on the Duty of a Good Citizen had just founded The Marine Society, the world's oldest public maritime charity. Also in 1759 Samuel Johnson author of The Dictionary of the English Language (1755) published his History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia. Dr Johnson attended many RSA meetings but told Boswell he had several times tried to speak at the Society of Arts and Sciences but found that he could not get on.all my flowers of oratory forsook me . The subscription fee of two guineas per annum (£20 -life membership) was high relative to average earnings (£14 p.a.) excluding poorer people. The RSA published an annual list of inventions it deemed deserving of rewards, to encourage potential. For instance, the first award in 1758 went to the Duke of Beaufort for sowing oak trees in 23 acres in Gloucs and many of the woods in the UK owe their present existence to the RSA. It had also put up premiums for the discovery of cobalt and cultivation of madder (to produce red coloured dyes). Richard Cosway won the very first art award before going on to become the leading miniaturist and portrait painter. World/COPAC locates 3 copies at University of Washington Libraries, National Library of Scotland & British Library. A scarce but significant George ii printed document. Bookseller Inventory # 4254