The Letters of Junius.
London: Vernor and Hood, 1798.
Price: $500.00
About the item
A new edition. xxxii, 266, [4]; iv, 288 pp. plus plates. 2 vols. 8vo. Contemporary marbled boards with plain paper spines. Bindings rubbed and worn. Minor foxing. Very good. In tan octavo-sized half morocco slipcases, spine gilt. ESTC T1852; DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN HISTORY III, p.190.
Item #248107
Originally published in the London PUBLIC ADVERTISER from Jan. 21, 1769 to Jan. 21, 1772, under the pseudonym of "Junius" (possibly Sir Philip Francis). "...'Junius' poured brilliantly slanderous invective upon Tory-minded English ministers, especially the Duke of Grafton, for a series of 'inconsistent measures' which allegedly ruined England and drove the colonies 'into excesses little short of rebellion.' Vehement, lucid, frequently reprinted in English and colonial newspapers, the letters were polemical masterpieces with such extraordinary knowledge and appreciation of contemporary colonial opinion that they lent moral support to the early revolutionary cause. 'Junius' opposed the Tea Duty, but upheld the legality of the Stamp Act, and prophesied (Dec. 19, 1769) that the colonies aimed at independence" - DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN HISTORY.
