
ENGLISH
POLITICS
A B C D-Em En-F G H
I-L M-O P Q-S T U-Z
Penn, William. The great and popular objection against the repeal of the penal laws & tests briefly stated and consider’d, and which may serve for answer to several late pamphlets upon that subject. London: Andrew Sowle, 1688. 4to (19.8 cm, 7.75"). 23, [1 (blank)] pp.
$1250.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Early printing of the first edition, following an eight-page issue by Sowle in the same year. Having already successfully encouraged James II in making small gestures toward religious tolerance, Penn hoped to persuade him to repeal the anti-Catholic Penal Laws and Test Act.
Despite this strongly worded treatise against persecution (which argues that all men should be able to make a free and open choice of faith and worship), the statutes remained in place for many years to come.
Wing (rev.) P1298A; ESTC R12742. Recent marbled paper–covered boards. Title-page with tiny, unobtrusive numeral inked in upper outer corner, first text page with numeral stamped in lower margin (no other markings). Title-page and first text page with moderate foxing, others clean.
“Pindaric”
Satire . . . Quite
a Read!
Pindar, Peter [pseud. of Wolcot, John].
Peter's pension. A solemn epistle to a sublime personage.... Second
edition. London: Pr. for G. Kearsley, 1788. 4to (26.8 cm, 10.5"). [4], 47, [1
(adv.)] pp.
$245.00
Wolcot lets George III in for it, first taking a moment to decry his own
reputation for devilish unkindness—totally undeserved, according to him,
as witnessed by the subsequent four laughably saccharine imitations of contemporary
verse. Having gotten that out of the way, he recounts humorous tales of
the monarch's poor judgment, dim sensibilities, and parsimony, before directing
a final blow at a hypocritical parson.
This second edition was printed in the same year as the first; although
the title-page mentions "an engraving by an eminent artist," no illustration
is present in this copy.
ESTC T7920; NCBEL, II, 695. Recently rebound in marbled paper–covered
boards, spine with gilt-stamped title label. Lacking engraving. A half-title
(possibly not that belonging to this piece) has, at some point in the past,
been cut in thirds and used to back/repair the title-page (to good effect,
actually), leaf 45–46, and leaf 47–48 (text on p. 48, a list of "Pindar's"
productions partially obscured by repair; the work itself, fine). One page
(not the title) has been stamped by a now-defunct library; several
leaves with tears, some repaired.
Oration!
Pitt, William.
The substance of the speech of the Right Hon. William Pitt, in the House
of Commons, on Monday, May 23, 1803, on the debate on the war. London: Pr. by
B. McMillan, 1803. 8vo. 29, [1 (blank)] pp.
$80.00
In this account of Pitt's speech concerning deteriorating relations with
France, he advises the House to prepare for a confrontation with France
by stating that England has "not an option at this moment, between the blessings
of Peace and the dangers of War." The DNB lauds his detailed "views
of Aggression and Hostility on the part of France" and its actions concerning
Malta, based on the "Report of Sebastiani," as explicit and convincing,
concluding that "it was well for this country and for Europe that in the
period of deepest need Great Britain was guided by his wisdom and animated
by his great courage."
The speech was possibly transcribed by the court stenographer and paraphrased
here in this abstract.
On Pitt, see: Dictionary of National Biography, XV, 125372.
Modern marbled boards.
(Portuguese Admiration). Sobre a constituição de Inglaterra...com algumas observações sobre a antiga constituição de França.... Lisboa: Na imprensa da Rua dos Fanqueiros, 1827. 4to (19.5 cm, 7.75"). 72 pp.
$450.00


In the period after the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, the British Constitution seemed a good model for stable government, as this Portuguese pamphlet on the subject witnesses.
Rare: No copies traced via NUC Pre-1956, OCLC, and RLIN.
Recent wrappers. Some light waterstaining in upper margins and on inner edge of title-leaf. Shallow tears and chipping, not affecting impression.

Life Insurance & Social Security
Price, Richard. Observations on reversionary payments; on schemes for providing annuities for widows, and for persons in old age; on the method of calculating the values of assurances on lives; and on the national debt. To which are added, Four essays on different subjects in the doctrine of life-annuities and political arithmetick. London: T. Cadell, 1783. 8vo. 2 vols. I: xl, 378 pp. II: [2], 324 pp., [1 (blank)] f., [2], 95, 24 (index) pp.
$1000.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Fourth, expanded edition, of a treatise which became the “bible” of actuarial science. Richard Price's (1723–91) method for calculating life expectancy was one of his most significant achievements. Life insurance companies would use this edition's mortality tables of Northampton, which were more accurate than the London tables, for many years to come. The book also includes a section on old-age pensions.
In addition to the dedication page, and prefaces to the first, third, and fourth editions, these volumes also include “additional notes and essays, a collection of new tables, a history of the sinking fund, a state of the public debts in January 1783, and a postscript on the population of the kingdom.” First published in 1771.
ESTC T12986; Goldsmiths-Kress 12495. Contemporary speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, edges of boards tooled in gilt. Joints cracked and weakly holding. Covers darkened along top and outer edges; leather lost on corners. Light foxing to a few early and later leaves, including title-pages; offsetting from leather affecting only first three and final three leaves, at edges. Each volume pressure-stamped on the title-page and one other page. Title-page rectos marked with small inked initials in upper right corner, versos rubber-stamped with a five-digit number. Penciled notation at bottom margin of p. xxx (vol. I). Now housed in a blue cloth clamshell box with gilt-stamped leather labels. (24415)
Prinsep, Henry Thoby. The India question in 1853. London: William H. Allen & Co., 1853. 8vo (19.6 cm, 7.75"). [2], 111, [1 (blank)] pp.
$350.00
Parliament reviewed the management of the East India Company every 20 years beginning in 1773. At the time of the 1853 review the number of directors of the East India company was reduced, one of those retained being Henry Prinsep (1793–1878), an able and successful Indian civil servant and member of the Council of India. He here gives his insights on a wide range
of issues, from education and the press to finance, the administration of justice, and how best to govern the country. NSTC 2P27024. On Prinsep, see: DNB. Removed from a nonce volume. Lightly age-toned. Traces of soiling and small inked numeral on title-page. A few instances of pencilled sidelining.
[Publicola]. An answer to an audacious letter from John Angelo Belloni, dated at Rome the 4th of May, 1732. N.S. Being an antidote to the seditious principles endeavoured to be instilled by the same. To which is annexed, a true copy of the translation of the said letter.... London, 1732. Folio (34 cm, 13.25"). 8 pp.
$795.00
Highly uncommon pamphlet: The author, who identifies himself
only as Publicola, responds indignantly to Giovanni Angelo Belloni’s
defense of John Thomson’s actions relating to the failed Charitable
Corporation. Thomson, who had fled to Rome to escape prosecution for fraud,
apparently was attempting through Belloni to set conditions for the possible
return of books and papers relevant to the Corporation; the British were outraged
enough to have Belloni’s letter publicly burnt by the “Common
Hangman.”
ESTC T225828. Recent marbled paper over light boards. Some pages very lightly spotted; edges untrimmed.
PLACE
AN ORDER | E-MAIL
US | PRB&M HOME