The eloquence of the British senate; being a selection of the best speeches of the most distinguished parliamentary speakers, from the beginning off the reign of Charles I to the present time. With notes, biographical, critical, and explanatory

Hazlitt, William

Published by printed for J. Murray, Fleet-Street, and J. Harding. St. James’s-Street, London; and A. Constable and Co. Edinburgh, London, 1808

About this Item

First edition, second issue; 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. viii, 525, [1]; [2], 591, [1]; original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, volume designation numbers stamped on spines; a very good copy. "J. Syrett" in blind at the top of the front pastedown Other copies we have seen in boards do not have printed labels, and the positioning of the volume number suggest this copy never had labels either. That said, Hazlitt notes copies were issued with "pink paper backs and labels." An 1815 watermark on the endpapers suggests this copy was bound later, with brown, not pink shelfbacks. From the collection of bibliophile Brent Gration-Maxfield, with his characteristic manuscript ex-libris, wax seal, and tidy bibliographic notes on the front endpapers. The Gration-Maxfield library was dispersed in a series of sales by Sotheby's in the early 1980s. Keynes, Hazlitt, 6: "The edition of 1807 is so scarce that it has been overlooked, and this reissue has usually been regarded as the first edition." Hazlitt also notes: "The publisher [of the 1807 edition], Thomas Ostell, is not known to have had any other dealings with Hazlitt, and he was soon to pass out of his sphere. The first edition of 1807 is an exceedingly scarce book, and my own copy is the only one I have ever seen . Very few copies, in fact, with Ostell's imprint seem to have been sold, and the bulk of the sheets were transferred to John Murray and others, with whose imprint the book was reissued in 1808.". Seller Inventory # 66754

Bibliographic Details

Title: The eloquence of the British senate; being a...

Publisher: printed for J. Murray, Fleet-Street, and J. Harding. St. James s-Street, London; and A. Constable and Co. Edinburgh, London

Publication Date: 1808

Binding: Hardcover

Edition: 1st Edition