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Dalrymple, Sir John, Bart - Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland, from the Dissolution of the Last Parliament of Charles II Until the Sea-Battle Off la Hogue

Title: Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland, from the Dissolution of the Last Parliament of Charles II Until the Sea-Battle Off la Hogue
Description: Edinburgh and London, W. Strachan and T. Cadell, 1771. 1st edition. Leather Bound. Two volumes bound as one: Preface (with Errata), Review and Part I paginated viii, 59, 232; Part II paginated 1 - 210. 4to. Handsomely bound in full contemporary polished calf. The leather boards show a few spots of scuffing (which could probably be polished out). The spine is heavily ornamented in gilt. The endpapers appear to have been renewed some time ago: they are tight and unmarked. Contents exceptionally clean, with very little foxing. Overall, a very nice presentation in excellent condition. Sir John Dalrymple (1726-1810) was a Scottish advocate, judge, chemist and author. He is best known for this work, first published in 1771. He was educated at Edinburgh and Cambridge universities and admitted to the Faculty of Advocates (Scottish Bar) in 1748. The research for this book came about at the instance of the historian and philosopher David Hume, who had requested Dalrymple to carry out research in the French state achives. Dalrymple made a number of significant dicoveries, including confirming that the Secret Treaty of Dover did contain a provision that Charles II would convert to Roman Catholicism, and that the Whig martyr, Algernon Sidney, had accepted money from Louis XIV in 1678, and that William Russell (Lord Russell) had negotiated with the French monarch. Although Hume later scoffed at Dalrymple's discoveries, they were approved of by Samuel Johnson, and later historians. Maurice Ashley commented that the publication of the Memoirs was 'a striking change in the historiography of the revolution', and J. P. Kenyon has said that the 'careful and accurate transcripts he published .. [of] key documents have been a boon to other historians right down to the present day.'. .

Keywords: British history; Politics; Ireland

Price: CAD 613.97 = appr. US$ 424.44 Seller: Bison Books
- Book number: 9900042871

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