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OverviewVery scarce first edition of The Servitour: A Poem, an anonymous 1709 satire on the servitor system at the University of Oxford, printed and sold in London by Henry Hills.Oxford servitors were lower-status students who received reduced-cost education while performing personal and domestic services for wealthier members of the university. The Servitour turns that social hierarchy into biting comic verse, offering a contemporary glimpse into class, education, student life, and social status at Oxford in the early eighteenth century.The title page describes the work as:Written by a Servitour of the University of Oxford, and Faithfully taken from his Own Original Copy, &c.Unlike the many unauthorized reprints associated with Hills’s prolific 1708–1710 poetry series, The Servitour appears to have been originally published by Hills, making it a particularly interesting example of his own contemporary literary production rather than simply one of his better-known piracies.The pamphlet is recorded as Foxon S222 / ESTC T47969.This copy is complete in 16 pages and retains the original half-title, an important bibliographical feature not present in every surviving copy. It also survives in its original stitched pamphlet format.Bibliographic DetailsTitle: The Servitour: A Poem
Author: Anonymous
Subject: University of Oxford; servitors; student life; social satire
Printer / Publisher: Henry Hills
Place: London, Black-Fryars
Date: 1709
Edition: First edition
Format: Octavo pamphlet
Pagination: 16 pages, including half-title
Binding: Original stitched pamphlet format
References: Foxon S222; ESTC T47969ConditionVery good condition for an ephemeral pamphlet printed in 1709.Complete in 16 pages, including the original half-title, and retaining its original stitching. General age toning with scattered light spotting and soiling, minor edge and corner wear, and small handling creases consistent with age. Printing remains strong and readily legible throughout.Please review photographs for condition. Photographs form part of the item description.ShippingFree shipping.Item will be shipped fully insured with signature required upon receipt.
