The / Present State / of / Wit, / in a / Letter / to a / Friend in the Country. / [double rule] / London / Printed in the Year, MDCCXI./ (Price 3 d.) / Collation: A-C4. Pp. [1-24] P. [1] half-title, signed "A"; p. [2] blank; p. [3] title, as above; p. [4] blank; pp. 5-22 text; p. [23] Postscript; p. [24] blank. This appears to be the only contemporary edition. Colton Storm THE _English Theophrastus_: OR, THE Manners of the Age. Being the MODERN CHARACTERS OF THE COURT, the TOWN, and the CITY. * * * * * _Quicquid agunt Homines, Votum, Timor, Ira, Voluptas, Gaudia, Discursus, nostri est Farrago, Libelli._ Juven. --_Quis enim Virtutem amplectitur ipsam?_ Id. * * * * * _LONDON_, Printed for _W. Turner_, at _Lincolns-Inn Back-Gate_; _R. Basset_ in _Fleetstreet_; and _J. Chantry_, without _Temple Bar_, 1702 INTRODUCTION Abel Boyer, a Huguenot who settled in London in 1689, devoted himself to language, history, and literature. As a linguist, he tutored Allen Bathurst and the Duke of Gloucester in French, prepared a textbook for English students of French, compiled a French and English dictionary, and endeavored to promote a better understanding between France and England by translating works of each nation into the language of the other. As a historian, he recorded the principal events of English national life from 1688 to 1729. As a literary figure, he wrote a play that was approved by Dryden and published two collections of characters. Coming in on the great flood of character books which reached its crest in the seventeenth century, Boyer's collections were part of the final surge before the character was taken over by Steele and handed on to the novelists. The first was _Characters of the Virtues and Vices of the Age; or, Moral reflections, maxima, and thoughts upon men and manners. Translated from the most refined French wits ... and extracted from the most celebrated English writers.... Digested alphabetically under proper titles_ (1695). The second, resembling the first in design but considerably enlarged, was published in 1702 under the title _The English Theophrastus: Or The Manners of the Age. Being the Modern Characters Of The Court, the Town, and the City_. No author is given on the title page, but the work is usually ascribed to Boyer because his name appears beneath the dedication.