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Catalogue
74
America
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116.
RIVES, W[ILLIAM] C[ABELL]. Discourse on the Uses and Importance
of History, illustrated by a Comparison of the American and French
Revolutions. Richmond [Virginia], Shepherd and Colin, 1847. First,
and only, edition. $200
8vo; f, pp. 2, (5)-57. Bound into old, but not original, wallpaper-covered
boards; front cover detached but present; text clean and tight.
Not in Howes; Sabin 71662. The author studied law under Thomas Jefferson,
was elected to the House of Representatives as a delegate from Virginia,
served as U.S. Minister to France, and then was elected to the Senate.
While he was in France for the second time, from 1849 to 1853, he
witnessed the results of the internecine struggles in that country
and, when the trouble erupted between North and South in his own
country, he opposed secession so long as the federal government
did not use coercion. When, in fact Virginia voted to secede, he
did not object and sat briefly as a member of the first Congress
of the Confederacy.
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"… not a system of government …"
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117. ROBINSON, ROBERT. A Political Catechism. Intended to
Convey, in a familiar Manner, just Ideas of good Civil Government,
and the British Constitution. London, W. and J.P. Lepard, 1784.
Third edition. $175
8vo; pp. iv, 140; modern paper wrappers; closely cropped, with affect
to few letters; few leaf corners curled; bottom corner of final
leaf torn, with loss of some text; small blindstamp on three leaves;
clean and tight.
"During the administration that prosecuted the unhappy War
with America, all who had the virtue and courage to avow found principles
of civil government, were reproached with want of loyalty to the
crown, and respect for government, and the struggle of liberty were
called by many an ignoble soul, inflammatory, republican and seditious."
This work "is not a system of government, it is intended only
to engage the British youth to study the subject in books professedly
written for the purpose. May the present happy revolution be the
everlasting death of toryism, and the joyful resurrection of honest
men!"
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118.
SAGEAN, MATHIEU. Extrait de la Relation des Avantures et
Voyage de Mathieu Sâgean. Nouvelle York, à la presse
Cramoisy de J. M. Shea, 1863. One of 100 copies. $250
8vo; pp. 32; recent marbled paper wrappers; neat number on verso
of title; a fine copy, this one unnumbered.
Sabin 74898; TPL 89; Howes S17; Gagnon I, 3123. This author surpassed
both Hennepin and Lahontan "in fertility of invention".
-(Sabin) He claims, in this work originally written from his dictation,
to have gone far west of the Mississippi in about 1680, and to have
seen many gold mines. "On the faith of this relation, France
erected its Mississippi Company" -(Howes). The prefatory "Nota"
reveals how Sâgean was discovered to be an imposter.
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119.
[SHEBBEARE, JOHN]. Le Peuple Instruit; ou Les Alliances dans
lesquelles les Ministres de la Grande-Bretagne ont engage la Nation
...
[bound with]:
Le Peuple Juge, ou Considerations sur lesquelles le Peuple Anglois
pourra decider si la Lettre qu'on attribue dans le Precis des Faits
a S. A. R. le Duc de Cumberland, est bien veritablement de ce Prince.
[Paris], 1756. $475
12mo; f, pp. xxiv, 212; f, pp. viii, 160. Contemporary full mottled
calf gilt; binding somewhat worn but tight; 19th c. ownership notation
on first blank; old institutional stamp on first title; generally
a clean, tight copy.
Not in TPL; vide JCB 1142 (Eng. ed.); Sabin 80054; Howes S368. This
work, translated from the English edition of the same year by Edmond
Genet, discusses the trouble between England and France, which was
caused by the French seizure of those British citizens from the
American colonies who happened to be trading with the Indians along
the Ohio River. These men were brought to Quebec and imprisoned
there. This was, of course, but one manifestation of the friction
arising from the competition along the trade routes during these
critical years.
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The Scarce French Edition
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120. SMITH, WILLIAM, Jr. Histoire de la Nouvelle York, depuis
la Découverte de cette Province jusqu'a notre Siécle
[sic], dans laquelle on rapporte les démêlés
qu'elle a eus avec les Canadiens & les Indiens; les Guerres
qu'elle a soutenues contre ces Peuples; les Traités &
les Alliances qu'elle a faits avec eux, &c. London, 1767. First
edition in French. $1,350
12mo; 2 ff, pp. vii-xvi, 451; contemporary full mottled calf, with
expert restoration to spine and corners; binding somewhat worn;
blank verso of final leaf partially stuck to rear free endpaper;
with the bookplate and, on the half-title, the blind-emboss, of
Sir Campbell Stuart; a very good, exceptionally clean copy.
Howes S711; Sabin 84573; Dionne II:737; this edition not in TPL.
First published in London in 1757, this first history of New York
established the author's reputation as an historian. Smith (1728-1793)
was a prominent jurist and landowner who later came to Canada as
a loyalist during the American Revolution, and who became Chief
Justice of Lower Canada under Sir Guy Carleton. This edition was
translated from the English by Marc-Antoine Eidous who, in the latter
part of the eighteenth century, translated many works from their
English originals. In this edition the dedication to the Earl of
Halifax has been omitted, and a very useful table of contents has
been added.
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