Observations on the Act of Parliament
Item #80432
QUINCY, Josiah, JR. Observations on the Act of Parliament Commonly Called the Boston Port-Bill; With Thoughts on Civil Society and Standing Armies. Philadelphia: Printed for John Sparhawk, 1774. 60pp. 20th-century maroon cloth, spine gilt. Spine sunned. Occasional paper flaws in margins (not touching text), scattered foxing, moderate tanning. Contemporary ownership inscription of Ralph Wormeley, Jr. on titlepage (see below). A very good copy. HOWES Q-18. AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 132b. EVANS 13562. SABIN 67192. REESE, REVOLUTIONARY HUNDRED 18 (ref). The Philadelphia edition of this major Revolutionary pamphlet, after the original edition published in Boston the same year, printing the author's case against the first of the Intolerable Acts, which established the blockade of Boston harbor. The Boston Port Bill was passed in March 1774, in the wake of the Boston Tea Party the previous December. The closing of Boston harbor, and the other Intolerable Acts, did more to bring together public opinion in the colonies, and led directly to calling of the First Continental Congress; this Philadelphia edition was no doubt printed to provide members of the Congress with copies of Quincy's arguments. Josiah Quincy, Jr. was a leading figure in Massachusetts patriotic circles. In this work he excoriates Parliament for punishment of a whole community in response to the acts of private persons, likewise attacking standing armies as "armed monsters," "fatal to religion, morals, and social happiness," as well as liberty. Interestingly, this devoutly patriotic pamphlet belonged to the prominent Loyalist and bibliophile Ralph Wormeley, Jr. of Rosegill, in Virginia. Wormeley (1744-1806) was a well-known book collector educated at Eton and Cambridge, and maintained at that time the largest book collection in Virginia at his family's estate. He was an influential figure in pre-Revolutionary Virginia, until his personal friendship with Lord Dunmore and open Loyalist sympathies damaged his reputation during the war. While he never committed an overt act in favor of the British during the Revolution, a handful of openly Loyalist personal letters were discovered, after which he was required to give ?20,000 bond and exiled to his family's hunting lodge about ten miles south of Charles Town until the war's end. Despite h.
Price: $10,000.00