Debate Large House Lords Commons by King James (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very good. FIRST EDITION. Octavo. COLLATION: A-B4 C-F8 G-Q4, COMPLETE. [2], 19-176 pp. Attractive half calf antique, marbled boards, red morocco label gilt, compartments gilt with small tools. FIRST EDITION of this important collection of Parliamentary debates, providing original and valuable documentation of the constitutional crisis that ensued during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. James II of England (a.k.a. James VII of Scotland), while fleeing to France, dropped the Great Seal of the Realm into the Thames. In Parliament the question was discussed whether he had forfeited the throne or had abdicated. The present volume offers detailed arguments for the both, but ultimately the latter designation was agreed upon, and in a full assembly of the Lords and Commons, it was resolved in spite of James's protest "that King James II having endeavored to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king and people, and, by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of this kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant." The Scottish parliament pronounced a decree of forfeiture and deposition. In our copy the imprint reads "and to be sold" (in another issue the imprint reads "and sold"). References: Wing (2nd ed.) E1288A. ESTC R14958. Provenance: the Sunderland copy (sale of the Bibliotheca Sunderlandiana, Puttick & Simpson, 1882, Fourth Portion, lot 9338) -- subsequently in the Theological Institute of Connecticut (now known as the Hartford Seminary) with blindstamps. NB: in 1976 a collection of more than 200,000 books from the Hartford Seminary Library were sold to Emory University, including this one --> deaccessioned from Pitts Theology Library.

Leather Bound. First Edition. pp. [2], 19-176. 8vo. Contemporary quarter-brown suede over terracotta cloth boards, gilt lettering to the spine, red speckeld foredges, new endpapers. Light rubbing to the suede leather, hint of sunning to the front board, else, extremities remain in near fine condition. Contents remarkably well-preserved indicating only a touch of slight foxing, chiefly confined to the preliminary pages, otherwise, without blemish, markings, or notations. Overall, very good+. The British Library in their catalogued entry notes the presence of two variants of the imprint ['The first line of the imprint has "And Sold". Another edition has "And to be Sold" ']; our copy reads the latter. See ESTC Citation Nos. R224964 (006131506) & R14958 (006080775). See also Wing, Citation No. D506. Scarce in commerce. A remarkable and crucial historical account of the raging debates within the English parliament surrounding the events leading up to the Glorious Revolution of 1688, also known as the Bloodless Revolution [An Réabhlóid Ghlórmhar (Irish): Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor (Scottish Gaelic); Chwyldro Gogoneddus (Welsh); Glorieuze Overtocht (Dutch)], which witnessed the deposition of James II (also, James VII of Scotland) from the English Throne in favour of his daughter Mary II and her husband, "stadtholder and de facto ruler of the Dutch Republic", William III of Orange. The Revolution would see the passage of the landmark Bill of Rights of 1689, ensured the exclusion of Catholics from the English throne, severely curtailed the monarch's power, and witnessed the effective establishment of a constitutional monarchy, thereby, ensuring the supremacy of Parliament. It further led to the Act of Toleration of 1689, granting toleration to "Nonconformist Protestants" (but excluding Catholics whose emancipation would be delayed for a further 140 years). The present volume deals chiefly with Parliament's resolution relating to whether James had forfeited, or, abdicated the throne by virtue of his having discarded the "Great Seal of the Realm" into the River Thames prior to fleeing for France, his subsequent capture at Kent, and later exile under the protection of Louis XIV of France. Ultimately, Parliament declared that: "King James II having endeavored to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king and people, and, by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of this kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant.".