The Revolution in America. By the Abbe Raynal; A Letter Addressed to the Abbe Raynal on the Affairs of North-America. In Which the Mistakes in the Abbe’s Account of the Revolution of America are Corrected and Cleared Up ; Massachusettensis: or a Series of Letters, Containing a Faithful State of Many Important and Striking Facts, which Laid the Foundation of the Present Troubles in the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

RAYNAL, Guillaume Thomas François; Thomas Paine; Daniel Leonard.

$5,000.00

Item Number: 133410

London: Various Publishers, 1781-1786.

Rare sammelband collection of first and early English printings of treatises related to the American Revolutionary War, reflecting both Republican and Tory opinions. The collection includes a first English edition of The Revolution in America. By the Abbe Raynal [London: Printed for Lockyer Davis, Holborn, 1781]; a second English edition of Thomas Paine’s A Letter Addressed to the Abbe Raynal on the Affairs of North-America. In Which the Mistakes in the Abbe’s Account of the Revolution of America are Corrected and Cleared Up [London: For C. Dilly, 1782]; a first edition in book form of Daniel Leonard’s The North Briton, From No. I. to No. XLVI. inclusive. With Useful and Explanatory Notes. [London: at Wilkes’ house, 1763]; and a first English edition of Massachusettensis: or a Series of Letters, Containing a Faithful State of Many Important and Striking Facts, which Laid the Foundation of the Present Troubles in the Province of Massachusetts Bay; Originally Addressed to the People of that Province, and worthy the Consideration of the True Patriots of this Country. [London: reprinted for J. Mathews, 1776]. Howes R-85; Sabin 68104; ESTC N26370; ESTC T121877; Howes L-258; Sabin 40100. Octavo, bound in three quarter polished calf over marbled boards with morocco spine labels lettered in gilt. Period ownership inscriptions. In near fine condition. A fine collection of early American treatises.

Raynal's Revolution of America is excerpted from the Geneva 1780 edition of his Histoire philosophique et politique. The French edition and the English translation were likely both printed in London and issued simultaneously; both were reprinted several times before the first authorized English edition of 1782. The work elicited a response from Thomas Paine, who "objected to Raynal's claims that the war arose entirely from a dispute over taxation and that peace efforts had been hampered by the Americans' alliance with France. His Letter...is an exemplary piece of diplomacy" (DNB). Wilkes' newspaper The North Briton included satirical attacks on the Earl of Bute, George III's Prime minister, and reflected many of the debates over Britain's relationship with the American colonies. Leonard's Massachusettensis was the "most influential early Tory attempt to defend England's conduct" (Howes).