$567
Estimate: $800 - $1,200
A Fine Collection of American Literature and History
Auction: June 8, 2023 12:00 PM EDT
Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution
Dublin: This Edition has Been Printed Under the Direction of The Whigs of the Capital, For the Diffusion of Political Information Amongst Their Countrymen, 1791. Early, possibly the first, Irish edition. 8vo. (iv), 69 pp. Disbound; all edges trimmed; top and bottom edge trimmed close, just touching some page numbers and catchwords; foxing to text, some creasing to same. ESTC T5874
Printed in the same year as the first American and English editions, this uncommon, and possibly first Irish edition of Paine's defense of the French Revolution was cheaply printed by Dublin's Whigs, and distributed throughout Ireland. The book's influence in Dublin, and in Ireland generally, was enormous, and Paine was elected an honorary member of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen, who formed in response to the French Revolution and whose aim was to create an Irish democracy that included Irishmen of every class and religious denomination.
Together with:
Letter from Thomas Paine to George Washington, Dated Paris, July 1796...
Baltimore: Printed by G. Douglas, 1802. Third edition. 8vo. 44 pp. Disbound; all edges trimmed; scattered chipping along edges; dampstaining and soiling. Howes P-24; Sabin 58225.
Paine's harsh critique of Washington's presidency, first printed in Philadelphia in 1796. Also includes Paine's letter to the people of the United States, reprinted from The National Intelligencer; Paine's letter to the people of France, dated September 25, 1792; Paine's "Reasons for Preserving the Life of Louis Capet, as Delivered to the National Convention"; each signed in type by Paine.
Together with:
The Political and Miscellaneous Works of Thomas Paine
London: Printed and Published by R. Carlile, 1819. In two volumes. 8vo. Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece portrait of Paine in first volume. Three-quarter brown morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, stamped in blind and in gilt, rubbing to joints, boards, and extremities; top edges gilt, other edges trimmed; by J. Larkins.
London radical Richard Carlile's printing of Paine's collected works, featuring Common Sense, Rights of Man, etc. For his publication of Paine's work, Carlile faced two trials and served several years in jail.