Quarto
Collation: 1 l., v., 468 pp., 7 ll. Seven plates.
EDMUND BURKE
(1729-1797)
63. Reflections | On The | Revolution In France, | [Four lines] In A | Letter | Intended To Have Been Sent To A Gentleman | In Paris. | By The Right Honorable | Edmund Burke. | London: | Printed For J. Dodsley, in Pall Mall. | M.DCC.XC.
It was well known, long before the book appeared, that Burke was at work upon this subject. As early as October, 1789, he had written a letter expressing his opinion on the revolutionary movement in France, and in this volume he but gave in permanent form a more elaborate and careful presentation of the same subject. Interest in the new volume was in no way diminished, but rather increased by the delay; and when the little book made its appearance, November 1, in a modest unlettered wrapper of gray paper, selling for five shillings, it created a profound impression. The King called it "a good book, a very good book; every gentleman ought to read it," and it ran into eleven editions, or eighteen thousand copies, within a twelvemonth.
Our author and his publishers were well known to each other at this time: they had issued his A Vindication of Natural Society in 1756; and he had been the conductor and chief editor of the historical portion of their Annual Register for a number of years.
Octavo.
Collation: iv, 356 pp.