AN ORATION, ON THE PRINCIPLES OF TASTE, DELIVERED BEFORE THE FEDERAL ADELPHI, ON THE FOURTH OF SEPTEMBER, A.D. 1800, AT THE BAPTIST MEETING-HOUSE, IN PROVIDENCE. BY PAUL ALLEN, A.M.
Providence: Printed by Bennett Wheeler, 1800. 14, [2 blanks] pp. Disbound, title leaf and final blank with some spotting, Good+.
The Federal Adelphi was the first organization made up of graduates of Rhode Island College, later Brown University. The Society "had its origin in the refusal by the Harvard branch of Phi Beta Kappa of the application of Rhode Island College to form a new branch. This happened in 1790. Harvard's excuse for refusing the application was that the 'Providence College admitted as Sophimores (sic) persons who would not rank as Freshmen at Cambridge.'" [Mitchell, Encyclopedia Brunoniana].
Allen discourses on aesthetics, bemoaning "the decline, and corruption of Taste." Poetry "has been injured, and degraded." Surveying the "present state of the Union," Allen concludes that "a complete reformation of Taste is necessary."
Evans 36801. Alden 1650. Item #30916
Price: $250.00