Manuscript poem, titled ‘The fable of the Dogs occasioned by the Dog tax 1796’

[Mary Young SEWELL (d. 1821, author)].

7pp. manuscript poem, titled 'The fable of the Dogs occasioned by the Dog tax 1796'

[undated, but circa 1796-1805].

8pp., 4to (9 x 7 1/4in; 225 x 185mm), 174 lines of poetry (on 7pp., the 8th-page blank but for some early notes), in black ink in a single hand:

'Now swift upon the wings of fame
The dismal news triumphant came
And round the fatal rumour spread,
That every dog must lose his head. ...'

Condition: old folds and small browned areas, but generally excellent.

A charming fable, extolling the virtues of all types of dogs: this is apparently an early manuscript fair-copy showing significant differences from the version published by Mrs. Sewell in 1805.

John Dent’s proposal, a tax on dogs, was greeted with uproar. He made the suggestion in Parliament in April 1796, and despite strong opposition, Dent’s proposal was adopted, adapted and made law by Prime Minister Pitt: another method of financing the debilitating wars in which Great Britain was engaged at the time. The tax was not repealed until 1882.

See Mrs. G. Sewell. Poems [Egham & Chertsey: 1805], vol.I, pp.182-192 "The Fable of the Dogs. 1796".