Beschreibung:

Title: Letters on the Revolution of France and on the New Constitution Established by the National Assembly: Occasioned by the Publications of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke M.P. and Alexander de Calonne, Late Minister of State. To Which is Added, An Appendix, Containing Original Papers and Authentic Documents Relative to the Affairs of France. Addressed to Sir John Sinclair Bart. M.P. by Thomas Christie. Part I. [all published] Author: Christie, Thomas Place: London Publisher: J. Johnson Date: 1791 Description: (iii)-viii, 276; 195 pp. Folding charts not present. (8vo) 21x13 cm (8¼x5¼") early half calf and marbled boards, red leather spine label. First Edition. A second planned volume was never published. "In early 1790 Christie spent six months in Paris, taking with him introductions from Richard Price and others to several of the leaders of the constitutional party. There he met, among others, Mirabeau, Sieyès, and Necker, and returned to England as an enthusiastic supporter of the principles of the revolution. He published A Sketch of the New Constitution of France, and in the following year, 1791, joined the attack on Burke with his Letters on the Revolution in France and the New Constitution. His account of the state of Paris was useful, as it provided a contrast to the current English belief that the city was filled with mobs, riots, and assassinations. However, his enthusiasm for the new constitution, his belief in its permanence, and his assurance that the king was the friend of the revolution may look somewhat naïve in the light of the violence which subsequently erupted in France, and which probably prevented the publication of further sections of the Letters." (DNB). Sometimes encountered bound with a 76 page printing of the French Constitution, not present here. Lot Amendments Condition: Binding rubbed, joints and hinges cracked; foxing; very good. Item number: 278207