Description
[Gauden, John], A Discourse of Auxiliary Beauty. Or Artificiall Hansomenesse. In Point of Conscience Between Two Ladies. Printed for R. Royston, at the Angel in Ivie-Lane, 1656. First edition, collation: [i; viii, with rare errata pasted down on A4; 200 pages; i] Wing G355, ESTC R202122. In-8, with an allegorical printers device and partial quotation in Latin from the Gospel According to St. John 8:12, qui sequitur me non ambulat in tenebris, on a banderole within a scalloped cornucopia.
The title-page of this copy has been repaired, with the loss of the words “A Discourse of”. Leaf A2 has also been repaired, without any loss of text. Authorship is attributed to John Gauden, also sometimes attributed to Jeremy Taylor and to Obadiah Walker. Re-backed, damp-stained in places, trimmed across the top, with “Auxiliary Beauty” inked across the lower page edges, original ruled brown calf binding is scuffed and worn. Scriptural citations printed in the margin. The text is written as a dialogue between two women, who critique “all things of art, used by any women, whereby to repaire or advance the quickness of theire complexions, or beauty of their looks,” one, a Puritan, and the other an Anglican.
Thomas Wright The Female Vertuoso’s A Comedy 1693
Robert Speed The Counter-Scuffle 1670
