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IMPORTANCE Published only six years after Vermont became a state (1791), this is an important first-hand description of Vermont's social, political, and geographical landscape during its early statehood. This copy comes with an insightful autographed letter signed by the author to another prominent Vermonter, Hon. Ebn W. Judd. Amongst other things, the letter claims the scandalous John Horne Tooke as the anonymous author of the famous Junius Letters (an assertion John A. Graham went so far as to publish a book about in 1828). The Junius Letters heavily criticized King George III, accusing many administrators of corruption and nepotism while the author espoused the virtues of civil liberties and freedom of the press. There are also period newspaper clippings about the author, and the book once was owned by the venerable William Peter Van Ness, who famously was Aaron Burr's second in his fatal duel with Alexander Hamilton. Condition: Very Good BOOK INFO Published in 1797 in London. Printed and sold for the author by Henry Fry. In contemporary full calf with gilt scrolling vine paneling. Compartments ruled and tooled in gilt with a gilt-lettered black leather spine label in compartment two. All board edges with tooled rolls. All page edges speckled. Octavo, 8.5" x 5.25". Final blank removed. Textually collated and complete, including half-title and errata leaf: vii], [1] blank, 186, [2] errata leaf. Frontispiece, vignette title page and woodcuts depicting Vermont wildlife and sporting. Ruled page titles and a few, very small woodcut tail-pieces. Includes the handwritten, signed letter dated October 15, 1828, from the author John A. Graham to the Hon. Ebn W. Judd, which mostly focuses on the author's 1828 book and the gifting copies of this work, informally deemed Graham's Junius, which argues John Horne Tooke was the man behind the infamous Junius Letters. There are also two newspaper clippings referencing even older newspaper articles from 1795, one is pasted to a front blank: 1. Public notice of the Vermont legislature granting John A. Graham and his heirs exclusive smelting and refining of precious metals rights in the state of Vermont for 35-years starting January 1, 1796. 2. An emotional letter from John A. Graham publicly separating from and denouncing his wife for conducting herself in a repugnant manner dishonorable of a wife (assuming adultry?) particularly while Graham was away in Great Britain. CONDITION REPORT: VERY GOOD Exterior and binding: Binding holding tight, cracking along joints. Rubbing to extremities, bumped and worn corners. Sunned spine with faded gilding. Interior: The majority of text is bright and white. Endpapers are grubby and toning with some slight foxing to extremities. Blank preceding half-title with rectangular shape cut out (assumingly to remove a name) and a 2" x 3" rectangle of paper cut out at head of half-title (again, assuming former owner info was excised). The letter pasted in shows a few tears, toning and some spots of foxing. Foxing to frontispiece and offsetting from it onto title page. Signs of handling like some smudges and multiple instances of pencil marginalia and within text correction, including an effort to correct all errors listed on the errata leaf. Bookplate of William Peter Van Ness on front pastedown. Numerous names signed in pen, H.H. Sylvester (signed twice, once dated 1841). Another name on title page and a penciled date of 1994 on title page. Quite the provenance trail! ABOUT THE AUTHOR & PROVENANCE John A. Graham (1764 - 1841) was a colonel in the Vermont militia and a classically trained lawyer. He was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1785. He moved to Vermont and practiced law in Rutland. From 1796 to 1799, Graham was in England, avoiding creditors in the aftermath of divorce and a mining fraud. While abroad, he wrote "A Descriptive Sketch of the Present State of Vermont" and achieved renown in political and literary circles. Later in life he acted as a represent.
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