A Collection of Publick Acts and Papers, Relating to the Principles.

London: A Strahan, for J. Hatchard, 1801. Maritime Diplomacy During the Anglo-French Wars [Great Britain]. A Collection of Publick Acts and Papers, Relating to the Principles of Armed Neutrality, Brought Forward in the Years 1780 and 1781. London: Printed by A Strahan, for J. Hatchard, 1801. viii, 278 pp. Octavo (8-1/2" x 5"; 21.5 x 13 cm). Later pebbled cloth, blind frames to boards, gilt title to spine. Moderate rubbing and light wear to extremities, joints cracked, a few chips to spine. Ex-library with gilt institutional name to front board, library bookplate and shelf label to front pastedown, and ink stamps to title page and p. v. Moderate toning to interior, occasional light foxing, early owner signature (of Mark Dyer) to head of p. 1. $250. * Only edition. This collection of treaties and other public documents and state papers was issued in the context of the conflict between Britain and France that would culminate in the Napoleonic Wars. Britain and France had already been sparring intermittently as part of the American and French Revolutionary Wars, and Britain would declare war against Napoleon in 1803. The collection was intended to establish "some of those Grounds of long recognized Law, and of antient and modern Treaties, on which this Country, as a belligerent Power, rests its Pretensions to exercise the Right of searching Neutral Ships, and of confiscating all such contraband Articles or Enemy's Property as may be found on board" (Advertisement). Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature 18210.…