JOHN WILKES DEFENCE
Wilkes, John: A complete collection of the genuine papers, letters, &c. in the case of John Wilkes, Esq. Elected knight of the shire for the county of Middlesex March XXVIII, MDCCLXVIII. Berlin [i.e. London?] MDCCLXIX [1769] avec approbation et privilege.
Enlarged second edition, following one of "Paris", 1767, of this volume of papers relating to the case of the radical politician, man of letters, and friend of American liberty, John Wilkes (1725-1797), who had been outlawed following publication of a salacious satire, Essay on Woman, and a seditious newspaper, The North Briton. The edition follows Wilkes's successful 1768 contest of the Middlesex parliamentary by-election while in prison. It includes a supplement with the text of The North Briton, XLV (April 23 1763) for which he was prosecuted.
"With more than fifty pages of new material, including a letter from Diderot to Wilkes, an affidavit by the printer George Kearsley relating to the seizure of copies of the 'Essay on woman', and various documents relating to Wilkes's arrest and trial on charges of outlawry. The imprint here is clearly false: the book may well have been printed by Wilkes himself, on his private press. With a frontispiece portrait (not present in the first edition)" (Ximenes description).
Details
One volume, 15.6 cms. x 10.1 cms., octavo, pp. [2], vi, [2], 266, 15, [1], + intaglio portrait frontispiece. Light browning, bound in 18th-cent. tan speckled calf, covers double-ruled in gilt, sides decorated in blind, spine with five raised bands, decorated in gilt, with red goastskin gilt label. (Binding slightly rubbed, cracking to bottom of lower joint).
Provenance: 1. Armorial bookplate of George Devigne Gregory (1740-1822), of Harlaxton Manor (Lincolnshire) and Nottinghamshire. 2. Bookseller's description of this copy tipped to final pastedown, the slip labelled in manuscript as coming from Ximenes Rare Books, Inc., October 1996, by 3. Eric de Bellaigue (purchaser), his booklabel to front pastedown.
Bibliography
ESTC T111234 [reference taken from JISC Library Hub Discover].
Peter D.G. Thomas, 'Wilkes, John (1725-1797)'. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online, 24 May 2008 (last accessed by us 17 March 2024).
On the copy's owner, see Sir Charles G.E. Welby Bart., C.B., A note on the manor of Harlaxton and its history [1937] at https://harlaxtonmanorarchives.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/gre_1_3-welby1937.pdf (also accessed 17 March 2024).