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2 volumes. [3], 127 pp.; [2], 153 pp. (8vo) 21x13.2 cm (8½x5¼"), original drab boards and printed paper labels, untrimmed.  First and only editions.

A scarce and interesting compilation of hundreds of mottos translated into verse by a learned but anonymous “Amicus” - a pseudonym often used.  The NUC records one copy (MB) to which OCLC adds six.

“This motto, in its double state, / Is classic, neat and accurate. / The first part of his lordship's song, / Is to “abstain, quite clear from wrong;” / The second part, on second sight, / Is “to seek out for what is right:” / The whole may thus be understood, “Try always to do something good.” - Earl of Abergavenny.  The second volume is titled: Mottos, in Verse, Continued: Containing the English Peers, Who Have Attained Their Majority; Those Who Have Come into Succession; and Who Have Been Created from the Year 1800, Until the Present Time.