THE SYSTEM: A POEM. In five books. WISE, Joseph. Poetry

8vo in fours, pp. [ii], 82; an unpressed copy, stitched in the original blue wrappers; a little stained and frail, and with upper wrapper detached, but otherwise in good condition. First edition of book II: the full five books, if they were ever composed, do not seem to have been published. This is one of a handful of works by the Rev. Joseph Wise, rector of Penhurst, Sussex, for 46 years until his death in 1810. We know very little about him, but a glance at the subscription list of his Miscellany of Poems (1775) shows that he had some interesting friends, among them the temperamental antiquary Joseph Ritson, the Lambeth librarian A.C. Ducarel, and the philanthropist Jonas Hanway. In an 'Advertisement' to the first book, published in 1777, Wise announced that 'The design of this work is to exhibit the true system and nature of providence, to elucidate the principal doctrines of physics, metaphysics, ethics, and theology'. Although this is only book II of Wise's poem, and ESTC treats the first two books as one publication, it seems evident that (since they are dated 1777 and 1778) the two were in fact published separately. Just three copies of those two books are located by ESTC (T126117), at the British Library, Bodleian and Cambridge UL. In 1781, Wise went on to publish the third book as part of a volume containing books I-III, titled 'Vol. I' (two copies located, one of which, in the BL, is his own heavily-annotated copy); and there is also a later edition of book I, but he never seems to have proceeded any further than the third book. All editions of all books are exceptionally rare.