A Brief Relation of Bamfield Moore Carew | Richard Abel 1973 Chapbook

Description

Richard Abel was one of America’s foremost antiquarian booksellers and bibliographers, renowned for his scholarship and for publishing beautifully crafted keepsakes that celebrated the history of the printed book. His annual holiday keepsakes have become highly collectible in their own right, each reproducing a fascinating rarity from the celebrated Lawton Kennedy collection. This 1973 edition faithfully recreates an eighteenth-century English chapbook on beautiful laid paper, preserving its period typography and charming woodcut illustrations. More than a simple reprint, it reflects the fine press movement’s appreciation for the craftsmanship, history, and enduring appeal of early popular printing.

Its subject, Bamfield Moore Carew (1693–c.1770), was one of England’s most colorful rogues. Born into a respectable Devon family, Carew abandoned polite society and spent decades traveling Britain among beggars, gypsies, smugglers, and itinerants, eventually earning the legendary title “King of the Beggars.” His wildly entertaining autobiography—part memoir, part folklore, and part eighteenth-century self-promotion—became one of the era’s best-loved chapbooks, blurring the line between fact and legend. It’s easy to see why Richard Abel selected this title: beyond its colorful subject, it captures the spirit of the inexpensive chapbooks that carried adventure, humor, and popular history into the hands of ordinary readers centuries before mass-market paperbacks.

A wonderfully produced reprint that celebrates both the rich tradition of 18th century English chapbooks and the enduring craft of fine printing—a rewarding addition to any thoughtful library.