"THE GREAT SUCCESS WITH WHICH THE ARMS OF BRITAIN HAVE BEEN BLESSED, PUTS IT IN OUR POWER TO GIVE PEACE TO EUROPE": A LETTER ADDRESSED TO TWO GREAT MEN, 1760 FIRST AMERICAN EDITION

[DOUGLAS, John]. A Letter Addressed to Two Great Men, on the Prospect of Peace. Boston: B. Mecom, 1760. Octavo, modern half navy morocco; pp. [4], 55, [1]. $950.

First American edition of this anonymous tract proposing an end to the Seven Years War, addressed to "two great men": William Pitt and the Duke of Newcastle. Attractively bound by Albert Oldach of Philadelphia, this volume was originally in the Library Company of Philadelphia's esteemed collection.

Here John Douglas (likely with help from his patron William Pulteney, the Earl of Bath) proposes making peace with France and ending the Seven Years' War, so long as France concedes all of Canada, Guadeloupe, and Senegal. At the Treaty of Paris in 1763, France did cede all claims to Canada, all lands west of the Mississippi, and some of the West Indies, which resulted in England becoming the major colonial power in North America. This pamphlet is also noteworthy for having prompted Benjamin Franklin's important response, The Interest of Great Britain Considered with Regard to Her Colonies (1760). First published in London in the same year. Another edition appeared in Boston the same year, with only 43 pages, no priority established (although that other edition claimed to be set from the London "second edition, corrected," while this edition makes no mention of the second edition). Howes L-276. Evans 8585. Sabin 40263, Early owner signature on half title. Bookplate of the Library Company of Philadelphia, marked "duplicate"; inked shelf number on title page.

Joints lightly rubbed. Text clean. An extremely good copy.