“THE CLEAREST OF ALL EXPOSITIONS OF THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY” (PMM): RARE 1791 EDITION OF PAINE’S RIGHTS OF MAN

PAINE, Thomas. Rights of Man. London, 1791.

1791 second edition, first issue, of Part I of Paine's Rights of Man, printed only days after the first edition, with publisher J.S. Jordan quickly issuing this edition after the Johnson original edition was immediately suppressed. One of Paine's most important, influential, and bestselling works, Rights of Man resulted in the prosecution in England of Paine, his publishers and booksellers, forcing Paine to flee to France. A handsome copy with an early British provenance. $8500.

“HISTORY IS TO ASCRIBE THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION TO THOMAS PAINE” (JOHN ADAMS)

(AMERICAN REVOLUTION) PAINE, Thomas. Genuine Trial… BOUND WITH: Rights of Man [Parts I & II]. London, 1792.

First edition of one of very first accounts of the infamous British trial accusing Paine of seditious libel and declaring him an outlaw for The Rights of Man, Part Two—"his most important statement of political principles" (New Yorker)—bound together with the same year's very early London editions of Rights of Man, and Rights of Man, Part Two, in contemporary boards. $6500.

“THE FUNDAMENTAL IDEAS ON WHICH THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC WAS FOUNDED”

PAINE, Thomas. Droits de l'Homme. Paris, Mai 1791.

Rare first French edition, second state, of the first part of Paine’s Rights of Man (published the same month as the first and only two months after the first English), “the clearest of all expositions of the basic principles of democracy” (PMM), with a special preface by Paine for this French translation, in scarce contemporary wrappers. $4800.

“THOMAS PAINE WROTE LIKE NO ONE ELSE: HE WROTE FOR EVERYONE”

PAINE, Thomas. Trial of Thomas Paine, For a Libel. London, 1792.

One of the first editions of the first contemporary record of the infamous December 1792 British trial in which Paine was found guilty of seditious libel for The Rights of Man, Part Two, "his most important statement of political principles" (New Yorker). $3500.

“THOMAS PAINE WROTE LIKE NO ONE ELSE: HE WROTE FOR EVERYONE”

PAINE, Thomas. Trial of Thomas Paine, For a Libel. London, 1792.

One of the first editions of the first contemporary record of the infamous December 1792 British trial in which Paine was found guilty of seditious libel for The Rights of Man, Part Two, "his most important statement of political principles" (New Yorker). handsomely bound in full polished calf. $3500.

“SUCH WAS THE POWER OF PAINE’S PEN!”

PAINE, Thomas. Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance. Paris, 1796.

First edition in English of Paine's fiery attack on British finance, printed in Paris, with Jefferson possessing a first edition in his library and Paine writing Jefferson in 1797, saying, "people who affected to laugh at my Decline and Fall… now see it in another light," a major work asserting the impact of the American Revolution on England, citing Adam Smith and prompting a run on the Bank of England. $3500.

"A SELF-APPOINTED MISSIONARY OF WORLD REVOLUTION": FIRST FRENCH EDITION OF PAINE'S COMMON SENSE, 1791

AMERICAN REVOLUTION PAINE, Th[omas]. Sens-Commun. Paris, 1791.

First French edition of Paine's Common Sense, the work that sparked the American Revolution, issued the same year he published the first part of Rights of Man, this important edition affirming his view of the French Revolution "as a natural extension of the American one," text in French. $3000.

“SUCH WAS THE POWER OF PAINE’S PEN!”

PAINE, Thomas. The Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance. Philadelphia, 1796.

Early American edition of Paine's fiery attack on the British financial system, issued the same year as the Paris first edition, asserting the impact of the American Revolution on England, citing Adam Smith and prompting a run on the Bank of England. $1500.

“I OUGHT NOT TO HAVE SUSPECTED YOU OF TREACHERY”

PAINE, Thomas. Letter to George Washington. London, 1797.

Early English edition of Paine's bitter public attack on George Washington, issued the year following the American first edition. $1500.

"IT IS A DANGEROUS ATTEMPT IN ANY GOVERNMENT TO SAY TO A NATION, 'THOU SHALT NOT READ'" (THOMAS PAINE)

PAINE, Thomas. Letter Addressed to the Addressers. London, 1792.

1792 edition of Paine’s fiery Letter, one of the earliest printings of this passionate work penned while fleeing charges for sedition, a defense of Rights of Man that calls forth the model of the American Revolution in “a brazen call for a revolution in England… sometimes referred to as the Third Part of the Rights of Man” (Gimbel-Yale). $1200.

“THE CLEAREST OF ALL EXPOSITIONS OF THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY”

PAINE, Thomas. Rights of Man. London, 1817, 1819.

1817-1819 London editions of Paine’s revolutionary classic, Parts I & II in one volume, issued posthumously by controversial London publisher Sherwin, uncut. $850.

“IT WAS THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION THAT MADE ME AN AUTHOR”

PAINE, Thomas. Letters to the Citizens of the United States of America. London, 1817.

Second English edition of the collection of Paine’s anti-Federalist letters, with all eight in a correspondence that raised tensions between Jefferson and Adams. $750.

"IT WAS THE CAUSE OF AMERICA THAT MADE ME AN AUTHOR"

PAINE, Thomas. Thoughts on the Peace. London, 1791.

First edition of Paine's Thoughts on the Peace, the first London edition of his American Crisis XIII (1783). $650.

“LIBERTY CANNOT BE PURCHASED BY A WISH”

PAINE, Thomas. Miscellaneous Articles. London, 1792.

First edition in English, preceded by the same year's French first edition, of this timely collection of letters and essays by Paine, issued as his role in the French Revolution and publication of Rights of Man sparked renewed interest in his revolutionary writings. $650.

“GOVERNMENT, IN ITS OWN ESTIMATION, HAS BEEN A SYSTEM OF PERFECTION; BUT A FREE PRESS HAS EXAMINED AND DETECTED ITS ERRORS… TODAY I STAND UP TO DEFEND THOMAS PAINE”

(PAINE, Thomas). Whole Proceedings on the Trial Against Thomas Paine. Dublin, 1793.

First Dublin edition of the court transcript to Thomas Paine’s 1792 British trial for seditious libel, issued the same year as both the first American and English editions of the same year. $500.

"THERE IS ONLY A REMOTE RESEMBLANCE TO THE FACTS OF PAINE'S LIFE"

(PAINE, Thomas) [COBBETT, William]. Life of Tom Paine. Philadelphia, 1797.

Second edition of the September, 1796 issue of William Cobbett’s barbed political journal, which includes his highly critical "The Life of Tom Paine, interspersed with remarks and reflections." An interesting and vicious contemporary attack on Paine's character. $300.