Letters Written by the Late Right Honourable Lady Luxborough, to William Shenstone, Esq.
London: J. Dodsley, 1775. First edition. Hardcover. First edition, 1775. iv,416 pp. 19th-century speckled calf, spine gilt, raised bands, gilt morocco label. Ex-lib., with small insitutional inkstamp on rear endpaper. Textblock and spine split neatly between N and O signatures, front board detached, calf worn and lightly stained. Internally very clean. Good. Henrietta Knight, Lady Luxborough (1699-1756) was banished by her husband, Robert Knight, to his estate at Barrells Hall, Warwickshire, upon suspicion of infidelity. Once there, she set to work on restoring the neglected estate and created an early and celebrated ferme orné on the grounds. During her years at Barrells, Lady Luxborough became part of the literary circle known as the Warwickshire Coterie, at whose center was the poet and landscape artist William Shenstone, to whom the present letters are addressed. Luxborough is credited with having invented the word 'shrubbery' - its first recorded appearance is here, in her letter to Shenstone dated October 16, 1748 (p. 56). Good. Item #z07373
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