An Account of the Different Charities belonging to the Poor of County of Norfolk.

Abridged from the Returns under Gilbert’s Act, to the House of Commons in 1786; and from the Terriers in the office of the Lord Bishop of Norwich.

Bury St Edmunds/London Printed by Gedge and Barker; for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. 1811.

First edition. 8vo. 220x130mm. pp. xvi, 296. Contemporary diced russia, double fillet gilt border with gilt roll border inside. A further gilt roll border to the central panel. Spine decorated and lettered in gilt. Some wear to head and foot of spine but otherwise a handsome binding in a very good condition. Internally very good, some foxing and the front free endpaper is loose. Overall an excellent copy of a fascinating book which lists and describes all the charitable activity in Norfolk from large donations in Norwich to very modest charitable work in tiny villages (such as teaching young people how to knit). Zachary Clark was a Quaker from Downham. The preface (written by Thomas Clarkson, the abolitionist and a friend of Clark's) describes how Clark was concerned at the extent to which charities failed to carry out their purposes. It seems that in some cases, the abuses were quite basic and blatant, such as failing to hand over money intended for the poor. Clark set himself the task of cataloguing and, in a sense, auditing, the work of Norfolk charities and this interesting piece of social history is the result.