WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE

The Writings of Thomas Paine, Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Congress of the United States of America, in the Late War [Including: Common Sense, The Crisis, Rights of Man]. PAINE, Thomas. Item Number: 103202 Albany: Printed by Charles R. & George Webster, 1792.

Rare 1792 variant of Paine’s writings containing the scarce and important first collected American edition of The Crisis. Octavo, bound in full contemporary calf with gilt ruling and a red morocco spine label lettered in gilt to the spine. Containing: 1. Common Sense; Addressed to the Inhabitants of North-America (Albany: Re-Printed, by Charles R. and George Webster, 1791); 2. The Crisis: In Thirteen Numbers (Albany: Printed & Sold, by Charles R. & George Webster, 1792); 3. Public Good: Being an Examination into the Claim of Virginia, to the Vacant Western Territory (Albany: Printed by Charles R. & George Webster, [n.d.]). 4. Letter Addressed to the Abbe Raynal, on the Affairs of North-America (Albany: Printed by Charles R. & George Webster, [n.d.]). 5. Letters, by the Author of Common Sense. First, to the Earl of Shelburne…Second, To Sir Guy Carlton…Third, To the Authors of “The Republican,” a French Paper…Fourth, To the Abbe Syeyes (Albany: Printed by Charles R. & George Webster, 1792). 6. Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke’s Attack on the French Revolution. The Fourth American Edition (Albany: Re-Printed, by Charles R. and George Webster, [n.d.]). 7. Rights of Man. Part the Second. Containing Principle and Practice (Albany: Re-Printed, by Charles R. and George Webster, 1794). 8. Letter, To Mr. Secretary Dundas. London, June 6, 1792 (caption title). In very good condition.

This important early collection contains nine of Paine's works, each separately printed with its own title page and each the first Albany printing. Included is the scarce first collected American edition of The Crisis which consists of 13 numbered articles, only five of which were issued in pamphlet form, the others appearing only in newspapers. “When Washington’s troops floundered in the War of Independence to which Paine had given birth, he rejuvenated the dispirited soldiers” with The Crisis, “opening with the flaming watchword ‘These are the times that try men’s souls.’ Washington was so impressed that he ordered it read to all the troops at Valley Forge” (Gimbel-Yale 405). This 1792 Albany printing of The Crisis is the first time the individual numbers were printed together in America. Also included are: the first Albany printing of Common Sense (1791); the second American edition of Public Good [1792]; Paine’s letters to Abbe Raynal, the Earl of Shelburne, Sir Guy Carlton, the authors of The Republican, and Abbe Syeyes (all 1792); and the fourth American edition of Rights of Man [Part I] (1792). With general title page and rarely found list of Subscriber’s Names, which includes revolutionary leaders such as James Madison and Nathan Hale. (Evans, 24658; Howes, P34; Gimbel, CS-58; Gimbel-Yale, 165; Sabin, 58247).

From Catalog III

Paine came to Philadelphia in 1774 carrying a letter of introduction from Franklin, the second such letter in this collection to change a life. Fourteen months later he published <em>Common Sense</em>. This collected edition of his writings gathers the pamphlet that turned a colonial quarrel into a demand for independence, with the <em>Rights of Man</em> that followed.