First Edition with Large Folding Charts Showing the New Constitution
Letters on the Revolution of France and on the New Constitution. established by the National Assembly: occasioned by the publications of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, M.P. and Alexander de Calonne, late Minister of State. Illustrated with a Chart of the New Constitution.To which is added, An Appendix, containing original papers and authentic documents relative to the affairs of France. Addressed to Sir John Sinclair, Bart. M.P.
London: J. Johnson, 1791.
established by the National Assembly: occasioned by the publications of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, M.P. and Alexander de Calonne, late Minister of State. Illustrated with a Chart of the New Constitution. To which is added, An Appendix, containing original papers and authentic documents relative to the affairs of France. Addressed to Sir John Sinclair, Bart. M.P. London: J. Johnson, 1791.
First Edition. Two octavo volumes in one (8 1/4 x 5 inches; 210 x 130 mm). Part I and only part ever published. Part II was to have been Letters on the State of the Clergy of England...which was never published. [iii]-viii, 276, [1]-195, [1, blank]; [4], 76 pp. Without half-title for volume I, but half-title present for volume II. With three large folding charts, the first two being "Sketch of the New Constitution of France," and its continuation in the second folding chart. The last folding chart, which we could not find present in other copies, and may not have been issued with this edition is entitled "Abstract of an Act for establishing Regulations respecting Aliens arriving in this Kingdom...." The first volume includes two sections with the second being an 'Appendix' with separate pagination.
Half calf over contemporary marbled boards, rebacked and recornered to style. Boards and edges a bit rubbed. Some light foxing, mostly to preliminaries. Some closed tears to the first folding chart, but with no loss of text. A minor dampstain to bottom of fore-edge. Overall a very good copy.
"In early 1790 Christie spent six months in Paris, taking with him introductions from Richard Price and others to several of the leaders of the constitutional party. There he met, among others, Mirabeau, Sieyès, and Necker, and returned to England as an enthusiastic supporter of the principles of the revolution. He published A Sketch of the New Constitution of France, and in the following year, 1791, joined the attack on Burke with his Letters on the Revolution in France and the New Constitution. His account of the state of Paris was useful, as it provided a contrast to the current English belief that the city was filled with mobs, riots, and assassinations. However, his enthusiasm for the new constitution, his belief in its permanence, and his assurance that the king was the friend of the revolution may look somewhat naïve in the light of the violence which subsequently erupted in France, and which probably prevented the publication of further sections of the Letters. " (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography)
HBS 67426.
$3,000.
Price: $3,000.00
Item #67426