Beschreibung:

PAINE, THOMAS]. Common Sense, Addressed to the Inhabitants of America. Philadelphia: R. Bell 1776. 12mo, 205 x 115 mm. (8 1/8 x 4 1/2 in.), bound with two other pamphlets (including Paine's Rights of Man, see below) in an EARLY AMERICAN BINDING: speckled sheep, spine divided into four compartments with simple double fillets, black morocco spine label gilt-lettered "TRACTS", foxing, especially at front and back, a clean tear to C2 crossing several lines of text, a stain in lower inner margins of quires D through K, a light stain in gutter affecting some text from quires E through I, spine split, especially at bottom, but sound, worn at edges and corners of boards, spine extremities chipped; fleece-lined protective clamshell case. Last page with publisher's catalogue. Adams 222a; Church 1135; Evans 14954; Gimbel CS-1 (conforming to his first issue points); Grolier American 14; Library Company of Philadelphia Quarter of a Millenium 119a; Sabin 58211; Streeter American Beginnings 43. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, of Common Sense in an early American binding. Very rare. A census compiled by the late Bret Langstaff of John F. Fleming Inc., enumerated only 17 copies of the first edition, first issue of Common Sense , including the present, all but this one in permanent institutional collections. The former Thomas Winthrop Streeter copy is apparently still in private hands, yielding a total of 18 extant copies of the book. The book is particularly rare in early binding (the Streeter copy, the only other known to be in private hands, is bound in modern half morocco). Since 1940, only the Streeter copy (sold in 1967 and in 1984) and the present copy have been offered at auction, according to American Book Prices Current. Paine's Common Sense has been termed by a distinguished historian "the most brilliant pamphlet written during the American Revolution and one of the most brilliant pamphlets ever written in the English language" (Bernard Bailyn, Faces of Revolution , 1992, p.67). Paine began the work at the encouragement of Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush, as a simple chronicle of the American grievances against George III and Parliament. Paine decided to publish it in pamphlet form with the Philadelphia printer Robert Bell, who agreed to split equally with him any profits from its sale. (Paine planned to contribute his share to the purchase of winter gloves for Washington's troops.) Bell's edition, consisting of 1000 copies, went on sale on 10 January 1776 and was quickly sold out, but Bell insisted that the publication had generated no profits to divide. Paine immediately republished the book, augmented by an appendix, with a rival Philadelphia firm, William and Thomas Bradford, whose edition of 7,000 copies appeared on 14 February 1776. "The success of the pamphlet was extraordinary. Paine, who always denied that he made any money out of it, claimed that 120,000 copies were sold within three months. This may be an exaggeration, but it seems to be generally agreed that fifty-six editions had been printed and 150,000 copies sold by the end of 1776. It is also a matter of general agreement that the pamphlet played a decisive part in persuading the colonists to commit themselves to independence" (A.J. Ayer, Thomas Paine , 1989, p.35). Rush later recalled that it "burst from the press with an effect which has rarely been produced by types and papers in any age or country" ( ibid .). [ Bound before :] PAINE. Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution...Second Edition, Philadelphia: Samuel Harrison Smith, 1791, 12mo, 105 pp., lacks last leaf (blank?), some leaves cut close by the binder, shaving text on pp.31-32, 37-38, 65-66, 79 and 83, foxing and occasional spotting, printed dedication by Paine to President George Washington, Evans 23664 -- [CLARKSON, THOMAS]. An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African, Philadelphia: Re-printed by Joseph Cruikshank 1786, 1