First Second Reports Committee Secrecy (2 results)
- Hardcover
- Signed
Seller: Xerxes Fine and Rare Books and Documents, Glen Head, NY, U.S.A.Xerxes Fine and Rare Books and Documents
Contact seller5-star sellerCondition: fine. London 1794 3rd edition, J. Debrett. 'To whom the several papers referred to in His Majesty's Message of the 12th of May, 1794 and which were presented (sealed up) to the House by Mr. Secretary Dundas.' Revolutionary agitation in England inspired the the French Revolution. Thomas Paine and his 'Rights of Man' me…ntioned several times. 8vo., 40pp., 72pp., plus appendices and reports to the House of Lords. Original paper-covered boards with later (fine, professionally-done) paper backstrip and new inner hinges. Copy signed by Alfred Smith, Esq., Hartford. Some ink notes describing content inside front board. Good, boards worn and soiled.
More imagesPublished by Printed by P. Byrne, Grafton-Street, Dublin, 1794
Seller: David M. Lesser, ABAA, Woodbridge, CT, U.S.A.David M. Lesser, ABAA
Contact seller5-star seller[2], 24, 206 pp. Disbound neatly. Light toning and dusting. Good+. Page [198] prints four illustrations of weapons found by adherents to the Society. Good+. The Society for Constitutional Information advocated parliamentary changes intended to achieve democracy, equality of political representation, and libertarian reforms. The…Society charged that "the Representatives of this Country seldom procure a Seat in Parliament from the unbought Suffrages of a Free People." It opposed the slave trade and had favored American independence. The King and Parliament deemed the Society a dangerous, seditious organization. The Reports warn that the activities of the Society and other allied groups are "every day more and more likely to affect the internal peace and security of these kingdoms, and to require, in the most urgent manner, the immediate and vigilant attention of Parliament." The Reports- - and the even more detailed Appendixes- - are filled with an enormous, indeed disturbing, amount of information about those activities, reflecting the devotion of substantial governmental resources for the purposes of espionage. They print hundreds of documents demonstrating allegedly seditious tendencies. Joseph Gerrald, Thomas Hardy, Maurice Margarot, Thomas Muir and other activists are frequently and prominently mentioned. These informative reports are the result. ESTC T142189. McCoy 237 for the London printing.
