A Presentation Binding for Jonas Hanway

Jonas Hanway (1712–1786).
The Seaman’s Christian Friend; Containing Moral and Religious Advice to Seamen.
London: Sold by Dodsley in Pall Mall, Rivington’s in St. Pauls Church Yard, Bew in Pater Noster Row, and Sewil in Cornhill, 1779. (03582)

The author of this book, Jonas Hanway, gave away specially bound presentation copies of wholesome literature in an effort to fortify the morals of English society. Hanway was a dedicated philanthropist, author of some 150 books and pamphlets, founder of the Marine Society, champion of whole wheat bread, and a fierce opponent of drinking tea. He was also supposedly the first Englishman to make the umbrella a fashionable accessory for gentlemen. Although his writings were intended for the unlettered, Hanway also presented books to King George III, members of the court, prominent libraries, and his own friends.

Hanway employed two unidentified binders for his presentation copies, and the second binder, active from 1765, utilized a small set of emblematic tools in combinations that were dictated by Hanway’s highly personalized iconographic program. This copy of Hanway’s advice to sailors was bound in 1780 with an ever-seeing eye at each corner of the upper cover; at the center the motto “O Save the Defender of the Faith” is gold-tooled in a circular pattern around the IHS monogram of Christ. On the lower cover is the winged hourglass (tempus fugit) and the motto “Let Us Consider. A.D. MDCCLXXX.” At least five copies of Hanway’s Seaman’s Christian Friend exist in identical goatskin presentation bindings.