William Cobbett, 1830

COBBETT, William (1763-1835). Rural Rides. London: William Cobbett, 1830.

First edition. "Cobbett has long been one of my favorite characters ... As a conservative emigrant in Philadelphia in the 1790s, under the pseudonym "Peter Porcupine," he castigated the Democrats." Eventually Cobbett went too far and had to flee back to England to avoid a libel suit by Benjamin Rush. "In England, he did an about-face and became a prominent spokesman for social justice and Parliamentary reform. " There is a little bit of everything in Rural Rides ... His passion and indignation never cease, his postive joy in dispute bubbles from every page, his pure pleasure in the countryside itself brims over" (Reese). PMM 294, Reese, Narratives of Personal Experience 27.

12mo (187 x 105mm). Engraved plan at page 355, 12 pp. of ads at rear (hinges repaired). Uncut in original cloth-backed boards with paper spine label (small loss at lower corner of spine label, some creasing to spine, a little minor rubbing and wear to covers).

This lot is offered without reserve.