THOMAS PAINE PAMPHLETS OWNED & ANNOTATED BY THE MAN WHO DUG UP HIS BODY: Two Volume Sammelband of Radical Imprints
Thirty-eight separately published pamphlets bound in two large octavo-size volumes. With J. P. Cobbett’s signature in ink to the title-page of four publications and numerous brief marginal annotations and underlining by Cobbett throughout. The pamphlets include diverse works on a swathe of political subjects including republicanism, Unitarianism, the Peterloo Massacre, freedom of speech, and judicial reform. Many of the pamphlets are rare, some with no institutional copies recorded or surviving in very few copies only (see full listing below) being published by short-lived provincial and radical presses, including J. P.’s radical sister, Anne, who published for the Oldham Cobbett Club.
James Paul Cobbett (1803-1881) was the son of William Cobbett (1763-1835) the journalist, publisher and politician and at first a vocal critic of Paine, who latterly became his biographer and devoted admirer. James Paul Cobbett himself was a lawyer, Chartist, editor of his father’s biography of Paine and executor of his estate.
Cobbett junior's commitment to Paine was such that in 1819, at the age of sixteen, he travelled with his father to Westchester, New York in search of Paine’s final resting place. Camping out near the site of Paine’s grave, J. P. and William proceeded, under the cover of darkness, to illegally disinter Paine’s corpse and, only just outpacing the sheriff's deputies, transport it by boat back to England. As Paine’s biographer describes, William and his son J. P. intended (without permission from the authorities on either side of the Atlantic) to rebury their political hero in London to 'effect the reformation of England in Church and State' and construct a colossal bronze statue in his honour. Their schemes failed, and while J. P. allegedly inscribed his name on the Founding Father’s skull in a macabre tribute to the eminent radical, the bones were scattered, and the pair roundly mocked in the Tory press. The pamphlets track Cobbett’s reading habits across the nineteenth century, but most notably his obsession with Thomas Paine; the books bear his marginal annotations referencing numerous other political and philosophical works.
DESCRIPTION: Mid-late nineteenth-century half-calf over marbled paper-covered boards, titled ‘old political tracts’ in gilt to spines, expertly rebacked, retaining original end-papers. Book label of [Robert] Newton Crane (1848-1927), dated 1875, to front paste-down of each volume - the first American to serve as his Majesty’s Counsel. Born in Newark, New Jersey, and educated at Wesleyan university. In 1873 Crane moved to England serving as Ulysses S. Grant’s Consul to Manchester, where he lived until 1877. During that time Crane bought these volumes, perhaps from Cobbett himself; later he wrote two books on baseball for British audiences, and helped to found the Anglo-American baseball league.
IMPRINTS:
Thirty-eight imprints. Volume one:
[1] Paine, Thomas. Dissertation on First Principles of Government. By Thomas Paine, Author of Common Sense, Rights of Man, Age of Reason, &c. Deputy to the Convention, and Secretary to the Congress During the American War. London: printed and published by W. T. Sherwin, 183, Fleet Street; and sold by all booksellers, 1817. Pp., [3]-31, [1] of pub’s ads, blank manuscript contents to volume 1 inserted following title-page. Signed ‘J. P. Cobbett aug. 1859’ to title-page. Paper backing strip to title-page.
[2] [Eaton, Daniel Isaac]. Trial of Mr. Daniel Isaac Eaton, for Publishing the Third and Last Part of Paine’s Age of Reason; before Lord Ellenborough, in the Court of King’s Bench, Guildhall, March 6, 1812; containing the Whole of His Defence, and Mr. Prince Smith’s Speech in Mitigation of Punishment.(London: printed, published, and sold, by Daniel Isaac Eaton, at the Ratiocinatory, or Magazine for Truth and Good Sense, No. 3, Ave Maria Lane, Ludgate Street, 1812. Pp., 80, plus engraved author frontispiece. Pencil underlining throughout. Small patch to frontispiece verso.
[3] [Hone, William]. The First Trial of William Hone, on an Ex-Officio Information. At Guildhall, London, December 18, 1817, before Mr. Justice Abbott and a Special Jury, for Publishing a Parody on the Late John Wilkes’s Catechism of a Ministerial Member. Fifth Edition. London: printed by and for William Hone, 67, Old Bailey; and sold by all booksellers, 1817. Pp., 48.
[4] [Hone, William]. The Second Trial of William Hone, on an Ex-Officio Information. At Guildhall, London, December 19, 1817, before Lord Ellenborough and a Special Jury, for Publishing a Parody, With an Alleged Intent to Ridicule The Litany, and Libel the Prince Regent, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. Fifth Edition. London: printed by and for William Hone, 67, Old Bailey; and sold by all booksellers, 1818. Pp., 45, [3] of publisher’s advertisements.
[5] [Hone, William]. The Third Trial of William Hone, on an Ex-Officio Information. At Guildhall, London, December 20, 1817, before Lord Ellenborough and a Special Jury, for Publishing a Parody on the Athanasian Creed, Entitled “The Sinecurist’s Creed.”. London: printed by & for William Hone, 67, Old Bailey; and sold by all booksellers, 1818. Pp., [2]. This single-leaf publication contains an apology for late publishing and a subscriber’s list only.
[6] [Hone, William]. The Three Trials of William Hone, for Publishing Three Parodies; viz. The Late John Wilkes’s Catechism, The Political Litany, and The Sinecurist’s Creed; on Three Ex-Officio Informations, at Guildhall, London, During Three Successive Days, December 18, 19, 20, 1817; before Three Special Juries, and Mr. Justice Abbott, on the First Day, and Lord Chief Justice Ellenborough, on the Last Two Days. London: printed by & for William Hone, 67, Old Bailey, and sold by all booksellers, 1818. First edition, first printing, pp., 44. Pencil underlining throughout.
[7] [Hone, William]. Trial by Jury and Liberty of the Press. The Proceedings at the Public Meeting, December 29, 1817, At the City of London Tavern, for the Purpose of Enabling William Hone to Surmount the Difficulties in which he has been Placed by being Selected by the Ministers of the Crown as the Object of their Persecution. Mr. Waithman in the Chair. With the Resolutions and the Speeches of Mr. Waithman, Sir Francis Burdett, Mr. Alderman Thorp, Mr. Perry, Mr. P. Walker, Lord Cochrane, Mr. Charles Pearson, Mr. Sturch, and Mr Wooler. Also, the Subscriptions Received from Time to Time, with all the Names, Mottoes, &c. Second Edition. London: printed by and for William Hone, 67, Old Bailey; and Sold by all Booksellers, 1818. Pp., 27, [1] pub’s ads. Ink underlining throughout.
[8] Elwall, Edward. Memoir of Edward Elwall, who was Tried at the Stafford Assizes, in the Year 1726, upon a Charge of Heresy and Blasphemy, for Writing a Book in Defence of The Unity of God, Against the Errors of Tritheists or Trinitarians. Liverpool: printed and sold by F. B. Wright, Swift’s Court Castle Street; and may be had of the booksellers in general. Pp., 8. We locate two copies only of the Liverpool edition (Cambridge, California State Library).
[9] Wooler, T. J. An Appeal to the Citizens of London against the Alleged Lawful Mode of Packing Special Juries. By T. J. Wooler, Editor of the Black Dwarf. London: printed by and for T. J. Wooler; sold at the Black Dwarf office, 58, Sun Street; and 4, Catharine Street; and by all booksellers and newsmen, 1817. Pp., 32.
[10] [Elwall, Edward]. The Triumph of Truth. An Account of the Trial of Mr. Edward Elwall, before Judge Denton, at the Stafford Assizes, in the Year 1726. For Heresy and Blasphemy, Said to be Contained in a Book Published by Him in Defence of the Unity of God. (Published Originally by Himself.) A New Edition. Liverpool: printed and sold by F. B. Wright, Swift’s Court, Castle Street; and may be had of the booksellers in general, 1817. Pp., 8. We locate no copies of this Liverpool edition in institutional collections.
[11] ‘OMICRON’. The Unitarian’s Reasons for His Faith and Practice, and his Defence against the Charges Preferred by his Orthodox Brethren. Liverpool: F. B. Wright, 1817. Pp., 8. We locate 3 copies (Oxford, Cambridge, New York Public Library). Title from drop-head, publisher from colophon.
[12] Wright, F. B. A Narrative of Proceedings in a Late Prosecution against John Wright, on a Charge of Blasphemy, aid to be contained in a Sermon Delivered by Him, on the Evening of April 8, 1817, in the Long Room, Marble Street, Liverpool: with the Particulars of the Proceedings Relative to the Registering of the Said Room. To which is Prefixed a Letter to John Wright, Esq. May of Liverpool. By F. B. Wright. Liverpool: printed and sold by F. B. Wright, Swift’s Court, Castle Street; sold by Eaton, 187, High Holborn, London; by the booksellers in Liverpool and Manchester; and by booksellers in general, 1817. Pp., viii, [5]-28. We locate 4 copies of any edition (Bristol, University of Missouri, California State Library, UCLA).
[13] Aspland, Robert. An Inquiry into the Nature of the Sin of Blasphemy, and into the Propriety of Regarding it as a Civil Offence: in Three Sermons, Delivered before the Unitarian Church, Hackney, on the Sunday Mornings of July 13, 20, and 27, 1817; with Notes, and an Appendix on the Present State of the Law with Respect to Unitarians. By Robert Aspland. London: printed for R. Hunter, St. Paul’s Churchyard, and D. Eaton, 187, High Holborn, by George Smithfield, Hackney, 1817). Pp., viii (including half-title), 92.
[14] Cartwright, John. A Bill of Rights and Liberties; or, an Act for a Constitutional Reform of Parliament. By Major Cartwright. London: printed by John M’Creery, Black-Horse-Court; and sold by Effingham Wilson, Royal Exchange, 1817. Pp., [2], 40, plus fold-out plan of proposed parliament. Cut close with loss to plate.
[15] [Anon.]. Parliamentary Reform. A Full and Accurate Report of the Proceedings at the Meeting Held at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, on Monday, the 1st of May, 1809, Relative to a Reform in the Commons House of Parliament. Sir Franis Burdett, Bart. In the Chair. London: printed by J. H. Hart, at the Independent Whig Office, Warwick-Square, Warwick-Lane, 1809. Pp., 28. Pencil underlining throughout. Foxed.
[16] Cartwight, John. Six Letters to the Marquis of Tavistock on a Reform of the Commons House of Parliament; Discussing the Best Mode of Uniting Policy with Principle. By John Cartwright, Esq. London: printed by J. M’Creery, Black-Horse-Court; and sold by Jones, Newgate-Street; Morton, 272, Strand; Richmond, 123, Jermyn-Street; and by all booksellers, 1812. Pp., vii (includes the half-title), 44. Pencil underlining and citational annotations.
[17] [Burdett, Francis]. Report of the Debates which took place in the House of Commons, on Tuesday, the 20th of May, on the Motion of Sir. Francis Burdett, Bart. M.P. For going into a Committee, to Enquire into the Subject of Parliamentary Reform. London: printed for Anderson and Chase, 40, West Smithfield, Robert Stodart, 81, Strand; and John Robertson, Edinburgh, 1817. Pp., 64. Pencil underlining throughout. We locate four copies only (Trinity College Cambridge, National Library of Scotland, Yale, New York Public Library).
[18] Burdett, Francis. Speech of Sir Francis Burdett, Bt. Delivered in the House of Commons on the 28th March, 1811, Upon a Motion of Lord Folkestone, to Examine into the Practice of Ex-Officio Informations, Filed by the Attorney-General, in Cases of Libel. Accurately Taken by a Distinguished Short-Hand Writer. London: printed and published by J. Morton, No. 272, Strand, 1811. Pp., [2], 38.
[19] Tooke, John Horne; and ‘DR. PRICE’. The Causes and Effects of the National Debt and Paper Money on Real and Natural Property, in the Present State of Civil Society; Pointing out the Only Way the National Debt Can or Ought to be Paid, with a Word of Advice to the People at A General Election. By the Late John Horne Tooke, Esq. To Which is Added an Appendix, Containing a Just and Impartial Review of the Funds of England; Shewing the Consequences of a Public Bank Being at the Disposal of any Minister. By the Late Dr. Price. London: published by Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, Paternoster Row, 1818. Pp., [2], ii, 50. Pencil underlining throughout.
[20] Roscoe, William. Remarks on the Proposals Made to Great Britain for Opening Negotiations for Peace in the Year 1807. London: printed by J. M’Creery, Fleet-Street, for T. Cadell, and W. Davies, Strand, 1808. Pp., xxxi, [1], 88, 64 of appendix. Pencil underlining throughout. Poor quality, grey paper.
Volume two:
[1] Watson, Richard. An Address to the People of Great Britain. By R. Watson, Lord Bishop of Landaff. (London: printed for R. Faulder, New Bond Street, 1798. Pp., [2], 42. Signed ‘J. P. Cobbett 1842’ in ink to title-page, underlining and marginal annotations in ink.
[2] Lord Somers, John. The Security of Englishmen’s Lives; or the Truest Power, and Duty of the Grands Juries of England, Explained According to the Fundamentals of the English Government, and the Declarations of the Same Made in Parliament by Many Statutes. By John Lord Somers, Lord Chancellor of England in the Reign of William III. To which are Prefaced, Observations Illustrative of the Character of Grand Juries, as now Constructed, and the Necessity of [illegible] to Fundamental Principals. London: printed for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, and sold by all booksellers, 1821. Pp., [4], lxviii, 80. Manuscript title-page supplied. Water damage to corners. We locate one copy only (Chetham’s). A pamphlet discussing the Peterloo Massacre.
[3] [Watts, James]. The Rights of Necessity, and the Treatment of the Necessitous by Various Nations. London: Pelham Richardson, 23, Cornhill, 1839. Pp., [2], 4, 55, [2]-31, [1] errata slip. We locate 3 copies only (Senate House, British Library, Wesleyan University).
[4] Egan, Charles. The Law of Extradition, Comprising the Treaties now in Force between England and France, and England and America, for the Mutual Surrender, in Certain Cases, of Persons Fugitive from Justice; with the Recent Enactments and Decisions Relative thereto. By Charles Egan, Esq. of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law, Late Fellow-Commoner of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. London: W. W. Robinson, 69, Fleet Street, 1846. Pp., [iii]-viii, 62. Signed in ink ‘J. P. Cobbett, 1846’ to title-page.; pencil underline and single word annotations, citational annotations in ink. Some leaves cut close, likely lacks half-title. We locate one copy only (National Library of Wales).
[5] Oastler, Richard. Free Trade “Not Proven,” in Seven Letters to the People of England. With an Introductory Address to Richard Cobden, Esq., M. P., by Richard Oastler. London: Cleaver, 46, Piccadilly; Pavey, 47, Holywell Street. Heywood, Manchester. Swallow, Ashton-under-Lyne. And by all booksellers, 1849. Pp., 40.
[6] Cobbett, William. Mr. Cobbett’s Speech for Repeal of the Malt-Tax, and His Proposed Resolutions on the Stamp-Duties. Republished by the Oldham Cobbett Club, and Dedicated by them to the Farmers of England. London: A.[nne] Cobbett, 137, Strand. Manchester: J. Heywood, 170, Deansgate. Oldham: R. Green, Yorkshire-Street, 1849. Pp., 24. We locate no copies of this speech as a separately published work, although Cobbett’s Parliamentary speeches were originally published in Hansard.
[7] Bowen, John. The Russell Predictions on the Working Class, the National Debt, and the New Poor law, Dissected. By John Bowen, One of the Class. Respectfully Inscribed to the Right Hon. Henry Labouchere, M. P. for Taunton, &c., &c. London: Hatchard & Son, 187, Piccadilly, 1850. Pp., 64, plus inserted leaf of quotations on the Poor Law. Ink annotations and underlines. We locate no copies in the United States; five copies in the U.K. and Ireland (British Library, Oxford, Cambridge, National Library of Scotland, Trinity College Dublin).
[8] Cobbett, William. Cobbett’s Reasons for War Against Russia in Defense of Turkey. With a Reprint of the Emperor Nicholas’s Catechism of Loyalty, as Taught in the Russian Schools. Extracted from Cobbett’s Weekly Register [...] Second Edition. s.l.: published by A. Cobbett, 137, Strand, May, 1854: and may be had of all booksellers, 1854. Pp., 15, [1] of publisher’s ads. We locate one copy only, at Harvard.
[9] Evans, Alfred Bowen. War: its Theology; its Anomalies; its Incidents and its Humiliations. A Discourse, Delivered in the Church of St. Andrew, Marylebone, on the Fifth Wednesday in Lent, 1855: the Day Appointed for a National Fast and Humiliation. By Alfred Bowen Evans, Curate of St. Andrews, Enfield; and Lecturer of St. Andrew’s Marylebone. Published by Request. London: Ward and Co., 17, Paternoster Row, 1855. Pp., 12.
[10] Burn, Richard. The Darkening Cloud: or, England’s Commercial Decline, and the Depression of our National Industry from the Inroads of Foreign Competition. By Richard Burn. Liverpool & Manchester: Thos. Kaye, Castle-Street, Liverpool; Benjamin Wheeler, Arcade, Manchester; and all booksellers, 1856. Pp., 24. ‘A good text’ to title-page in ink.
[11] [Urquhart, David]. The Queen and the Premier. A Statement of their Struggle and its Results. London: D. Bryce, 48, Paternoster Row, 1857. Pp., 32. Citational annotation in ink to title-page., and underlining throughout.
[12] Adams, W. E. Tyrannicide: Is it Justifiable? By W. E. Adams. London: Edward Truelove, 240, Strand. Three doors from Temple Bar, 1858. Pp., 8. Annotations to title-page in ink.
[13] Mazzini, Louis. To Louis Napoleon. By Joseph Mazzini. Second Edition. London: Effingham Wilson, Royal Exchange, 1858. Pp., 15, [1]. Underlining in ink.
[14] Bazley, Thomas. National Education. What Should it Be? Submitted to the Society for the Promotion of Social Science. By Thomas Bazley, Esq., M. P. Manchester: A. Ireland and Co., printers by steam power, Pall Mall, 1858. Pp., 14.
[15] Cobbett, James Paul; and Doubleday, Thomas. A Hand-Book for Reformers: containing Notes upon Duration of Parliaments, the Suffrage, Mode of Voting, &c. &c. By James Paul Cobbett, of Lincoln’s Inn, Barrister-at-Law, and Thomas Doubleday, Author of “The Financial History of England”, “True Law of Population”, &c., &c. London: Effingham Wilson, Royal Exchange. Manchester: John Heywood, Deansgate. Newcastle-on-Tyne: Joseph Barlow, 1, Nelson St., and 28, Grainger St., April, 1859. Pp., [4], 52. Colophone states ‘Blaydon: printed at the Northern Reform Printing Office.’ We locate 7 copies (UK: British Library, Bristol, Newcastle, Bishopsgate Institute; US: Harvard, Wisconsin Madison; 1 Aus: National Library of Australia).
[16] [Urquhart, David]. Conscience in Respect to Public Affairs. A Correspondence. ([1867?]). Pp., 20. No title-page, likely as intended as no library we locate describes one.
[17] ‘ANTHROPOS’. The Contagious Diseases Acts and the Contagious Diseases Bill: by Antrhopos. London: Henry Renshaw, 356, Strand, 1872. Pp., [2], 45. Annotation to title-page In ink ‘Recommended by Sir John Trelaweny M. P.’
[18] Grand Duke of Tuscany, Peter Leopold. Edict of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, for the Reform of Criminal Law in his Dominions: Translated from the Italian: Together with the Original. Warrington: printed by W. Eyres. M D C C L X X X I X. A few copies to be had gratis of Messrs. Cadell, Johnson, Dilly, and Taylor. [This pamphlet not to be sold.], 1789. Pp., [iii]-x, 67, liv. Signed ‘James Paul Cobbett, 1827’ to title-page, when Cobbett was only nineteen. Likely lacks the half-title.
Binding rubbed. Contents generally well-preserved, specific condition reports for each pamphlet within list.
Chase, Malcolm. ‘Cobbett, His Children and Chartism’, in William Cobbett, Romanticism, and Enlightenment, pp., 123-135; Nelson, Craig. Thomas Paine: His Life, His Time and the Birth of Modern Nations; Conway, Moncure. The Life of Thomas Paine, vol. 2, pp., 430-59. Roberts, Matthew. Chartism, Commemoration and the Cult of the Radical Hero.