Reflections on the Revolution in France
Item #84617
BURKE, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London, Relative to that Event. In a Letter.... Philadelphia: Printed by D. Humphreys..., 1792. 256pp. Recent three quarter morocco and marbled boards. Contemporary ownership signature on title page. Overall, very good. Evans 24157. NAIP w036399. Printing & the Mind of Man 239. Todd, Burke 53gg. Second American edition (preceded by a New York, 1791 printing by Hugh Gaine) of one of the most important political works of the late 18th century, Edmund Burke's fierce denunciation of the French Revolution. Burke was a staunch supporter of the American side during the American Revolution, but it was conducted on a philosophical basis with which he was in sympathy, and was notably free of atrocity. The excesses and slaughter which began to characterize the French Revolution were different, and the deposing of Louis XVI opened up a gulf of possibility which struck fear into the hearts of conservative powers throughout Europe. Burke's REFLECTIONS... crystallized the opposition to the French Revolution on philosophical as well as political grounds. "His anger and disgust were exacerbated by the dread that the aims, principles, methods and language which he detested in France might affect the people of England." In America, Burke's conservative attack on the French Revolution and his opposition to the Whig support of it was mirrored by the conflict between the Republican faction led by Jefferson, who supported the Revolution, and the Federalist faction led by Hamilton, who agreed with Burke that it was an outrage. The supporters of the French revolutionaries found their best counter- argument in Thomas Paine's RIGHTS OF MAN, written specially to reply to Burke, while Burke remained the best spokesman for his side. The present edition is of particular interest, since it was issued in Philadelphia - the political center of the American Revolution and then seat of American government - under the imprint of "D. Humphreys." Humphreys was not a printer but Washington's former aide-de-camp, a founder of the Society of the Cincinnati and an ardent Federalist and close friend of Hamilton. That this edition was expressly issued to aid the Federalist cause in its struggle with Jefferson is clear. A seminal work of equal importance to politic.
Price: $750.00