BAUMAN RARE BOOKS 44 67(ZENGER, John Peter). The Tryal of John Peter Zenger. London, 1738. Quarto, periodstyle three-quarter brown calf and marbled boards. $16,000 Second English edition (first published in New York in 1736) of the landmark trial of John Peter Zenger, a defining moment in the idea of freedom of the press. John Peter Zenger’s New York Weekly Journal often targeted Governor Cosby, prompting the official seizure and burning of four numbers of his Journal and Zenger’s arrest in 1734 for seditious libel. Leading Zenger’s defense was Andrew Hamilton, whose “address to the jury asserted the right of the jury to determine matters of law as well as of fact and held that the truth of an utterance could be upheld as a defense against a charge of libel. Both assertions were contrary to the common law that then prevailed, but it took the jury only a few minutes of deliberation to return a verdict of innocent. Hamilton was immediately hailed as a popular hero and Zenger as a symbol of the free press as a bulwark against tyranny” (ANB). Zenger’s trial was “the most celebrated event of that day… the morning star of that liberty, which subsequently revolutionized America” (Chandler, I:157). Zenger himself first published The Case and Tryal of John Peter Zenger as a folio pamphlet in 1736. Title page with partial early initials. A fine copy. “One Of The Most Valuable Writings By A Military Commander In History” 68GRANT, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. New York, 1885-86. Two volumes. Octavo, original deluxe full brown morocco gilt. $7500 First edition of “one of the most valuable writings by a military commander in history,” illustrated with numerous steel engravings, facsimiles and 43 maps, in handsome publisher’s deluxe full morocco binding. After an ineffectual term as president, ruined by bankruptcy and dying of throat cancer, Grant agreed to publish his memoirs to provide a measure of economic security for his family. Grant finished his memoirs shortly before his death in the summer of 1885. “A truly remarkable work” (New York Times). “Grant’s memoirs comprise one of the most valuable writings by a military commander in history” (Eicher 492). Volume I with faint embrowning to margins, a few leaves with a tiny dampstain along top edge; Volume II with soiling to a few leaves. Bindings fine. A beautiful set. “Symbol Of The Free Press As A Bulwark Against Tyranny”
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