THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BY DAVID RAMSAY, M.D. IN TWO VOLUMES

Ramsay, David

Published by Aitken, Philadelphia, 1789

About this Item

vi, 320, 323-359, [3 blanks]; iv, 360 pp. 2 volumes, as issued. Bound in modern quarter calf and paper over boards. Toned with scattered foxing, Good+. This first edition is by one of the most important early historians of the Revolution. It is "the work of an alert and sturdy eye-witness" [Larned]. Ramsay's Preface explains that, as a member of Congress in the 1780's, "I had access to all the official papers of the United States. Every letter written to Congress by general Washington, from the day he took the command of the American army till he resigned it, was carefully perused, and its contents noted. The same was done with the letters of other general officers, ministers of congress, and others in public stations." The South Carolina historian, physician, and statesman was "a moderate Federalist, representative of the coast country group, a man of ability, integrity, and influence" [DAB]. A Princeton graduate, he received his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania and settled in Charleston, where he developed a busy medical practice. During the Revolution he was a military surgeon in the siege of Charleston, was captured there by the British, and imprisoned at St. Augustine for a year. Howes R35. Larned 1469. Evans 22090.

Seller Inventory # 37819

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BY DAVID RAMSAY, M.D. IN TWO VOLUMES
• Publisher: Aitken, Philadelphia
• Publication Date: 1789
• Seller catalogs:
  • EVANS
  • HOWES
  • AMERICANA