'the textbook of radical thought'
Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution.
London: Printed for J.S. Jordan, 1791.
Price: $2,000.00
About the item
First edition, second issue. [iv], [vii]-x, [1], 6-162 pp. Lacking half-title. 8vo. Modern half calf and marbled boards, raised bands, gilt ornaments and red morocco spine label, endleaves renewed. Light foxing to a few leaves, small tear to fore-edge of title page neatly repaired without text loss, 19th-century bookplate to verso of title with minor adhesive show-through to recto, 20th-century owner signature to front free endpaper. Very good. Provenance: William Barwick Hodge (bookplate). Gimbel-Yale 59 (ref); Printing and the Mind of Man 241; Howes P31; ESTC N13086.
Item #377977
Hoping it "would do for England what his Common Sense had done for America," Paine answered Edmund Burke's attack on the French Revolution with Rights of Man (Gimbel-Yale 59). Writing "with a force and clarity unequalled even by Burke, Paine laid down those principles of fundamental human rights which must stand, no matter what excesses are committed to obtain them… The government tried to suppress it, but it circulated the more briskly… [Rights of Man is] the textbook of radical thought and the clearest of all expositions of the basic principles of democracy" (PMM).
The first part, dedicated to George Washington, is a rebuttal of Burke. Despite being "toned down" at Jordan's behest, the work "was a sensation, and at least eight editions were published by Jordan during 1791" (Gimbel-Yale 60). It continued to be wildly popular in England and America and the feared prosecution did not materialize until the second part was published in February 1792. It was much more inflammatory than the first part and the government responded accordingly, suppressing both parts and prosecuting Paine for libel.
The Jordan issue of the first edition was published the same year as the extremely rare first issue by Johnson, who feared prosecution and canceled the print run on the day of publication. It includes a "Preface to the English Edition" not present in the first issue.
