Oct 27, 2020 - Sale 2549

Sale 2549 - Lot 65

Price Realized: $ 688
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 300 - $ 400
Hexham, Henry (1585?-1650?)
A Tongue-Combat, Lately Happening Betweene Two English Souldiers in the Tilt-boat of Gravesend.

Printed at London [i.e. Holland]: [no printer], 1623.

Quarto, first and only edition, A-O4; formerly mis-attributed to Thomas Scott, a reply to Verstegan's A Toung-Combat, 1623 [STC 18327.5]; later sheep boards, rebacked, some paper losses to gutter margins in the first two signatures; ex libris University College London Library, with their de-accession stamp on verso of title, 7 1/4 x 5 1/4 in.

Framed as a dialogue between two English soldiers, the conversation between "Red Scarf" and "Tawny Scarf" concerns the Eighty Years' War (or Dutch War of Independence). As they explore the origins of the conflict, they mention Drake and Raleigh's voyages of exploration, and England's troubles with Spain, including trade and religious disputes.

Rare at auction, no copies offered since 1985. Formerly STC 22090 now STC 13264.8; also issued as part of Vox Populi Vox Dei: STC 22064; and Thomas Scott's Works: STC 22102; ESTC S117034; http://estc.bl.uk/S117034.