MODERN GRATITUDE, IN FIVE NUMBERS: ADDRESSED TO RICHARD RAYNAL KEENE, ESQ. CONCERNING A FAMILY MARRIAGE.

[Keene, Richard Raynal]: Martin, Luther:

Published by [Baltimore. 1802].

About this Item

A rare pamphlet issued privately by Luther Martin, a leading Federalist, while serving as Attorney General of Maryland. The impetus for the publication of the text was the unwelcome elopement of Martin's daughter with Martin's law student, the notorious Richard Raynal Keene. The sense of dishonor and disrespect Martin felt is palpable in the language he uses here. Eberstadt wrote of the work that "All the bile accumulated in jaundiced guardianship from the time of Fulbert is spewed forth on these pages in which Martin's poisoned quill wreaks a Modern Vengeance almost unique." Keene would reply to the accusations set forth here in his own pamphlet the same year, titled A LETTER FROM RICHARD RAYNAL KEENE, TO LUTHER MARTIN, ESQ. ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF MARYLAND; UPON THE SUBJECT OF HIS 'MODERN GRATITUDE.' The present work is also interesting for Luther's sketch of his early life, including Maryland society at the time of the American Revolution. Martin is highly regarded for his publication of THE GENUINE INFORMATION.RELATIVE TO THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION, LATELY HELD AT PHILADELPHIA., a rare and valuable work recording Martin's minutes of the debates at the federal Constitutional Convention, which is the only account of the events and discussions to be published during the debates over ratification. Luther Martin was a New Jersey-born lawyer and politician who set up his practice in Maryland, where he took up the Patriot cause and became involved in Revolutionary government. He served as Maryland's attorney general from 1778 to 1805, and later from 1818 to 1822. He also represented Maryland as a delegate at the Constitutional Convention, where he was an important proponent of the rights of the smaller states, helping to frame the New Jersey Plan. "Keene for about thirty years after his graduation from Princeton in 1795 had an interesting career, which, as far as I know, has never been sketched except for brief references in the Princeton Alumni Catalogue. It began with his playing a leading role in the most publicized romance of his time when as a student in the law office of the eminent and redoubtable Luther Martin, he fell in love with Eleanor Martin and against the fierce opposition of her father married her on January 27, 1802. This led to the publication by Martin of a series of five articles under the heading MODERN GRATITUDE" - Streeter. "Privately printed by Martin, for distribution among his friends" - Sabin. Lathrop Harper called the book "rare" in 1914. It is indeed a truly rare work, issued in an unknown but surely small number of copies. The last copy listed in Rare Book Hub appeared in an Eberstadt catalogue in 1963, priced $300. The present copy, though lacking the errata leaf, is still a desirable early United States work involving two important early Marylanders. Not in Howes, and the first copy ever offered by this firm. SABIN 44898. STREETER TEXAS 1056 (note). LATHROP HARPER 136:1181. EBERSTADT 162:454. BRINLEY 3681. Original plain front wrapper, rear wrapper lacking. Wrapper soiled and worn, neatly repaired at outer corners and spine. Contemporary ink notations on titlepage and in the margins of a few pages of text, small tear in center of first three leaves. Moderate foxing, staining, and uneven toning throughout. Good.

Seller Inventory # 56439

Bibliographic Details

• Title: MODERN GRATITUDE, IN FIVE NUMBERS: ADDRESSED TO RICHARD RAYNAL KEENE, ESQ. CONCERNING A FAMILY MARRIAGE.
• Publisher: [Baltimore. 1802].