£200
2 vols, 12mo, pp. viii, 328; vii, [i], 359, [7, ads]. Contemporary calf, boards bordered with a blind roll within triple blind rules, spines divided by gilt rolls and rules, black and green morocco labels. Some scattered spotting, some leaves lightly foxed. A little rubbed, joints just starting.
An anonymous epistolary programme for improvement, with the first volume loosely focussing on an Etonian schooling, the second on collegiate life at Oxford, but with both volumes containing lengthy digressions on matters historical, geographical and social.
The spine labels of these volumes identify the author as Lord Lyttelton, possibly based on the frequent misattribution to Lyttelton of Goldsmith's anonymously-published and similarly-titled 'History of England in a Series of Letters from a Nobleman to His Son' from 1764, perhaps with an echo of Lord Chesterfield's 'Letters to his Son' of 1774. The text here includes references to the French Revolution which puts it beyond the time of Lyttelton, Goldsmith, or Chesterfield, so the true author remains unknown.
