"ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT OF ALL POLEMICS": FIRST EDITION OF BURKE'S REFLECTIONS, 1790, HIS LANDMARK ATTACK ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

BURKE, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France, And on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. London: J. Dodsley, 1790. Octavo, contemporary full speckled calf, red morocco spine label; pp. (i-iii) iv, 1-356. Housed in a custom box. $7000.

First edition, first impression of Burke's important and controversial attack on the French Revolution, the work that precipitated Thomas Paine's Rights of Man, in contemporary calf binding.

"One of the most brilliant of all polemics… It is not to be wondered at that a man who desired justice for America but rejected Jefferson's doctrines would be deeply stirred by the events of 1789. To Burke an absorption with the end and neglect of the means was the most dreadful of sins. His anger and disgust were exacerbated by the dread that the aims, principles, methods and language which he detested in France might infect the people of England. This it was which provoked the Reflections" (PMM 239). "The effect of the Reflections was extraordinary. It created a reaction against the revolution… Abroad the Reflections created no less stir than at home, and Burke received the compliments of different foreign sovereigns" (DNB). Burke's "attack on the French Revolution… infuriated Paine, who was chagrined by these statements coming from his former friend, the great liberal. He rushed into print with his even more celebrated answer, The Rights of Man" (Gimbel-Yale 58-59). Four thousand copies of this first edition, first impression (Todd 53a) were published on November 1, 1790. The work was quickly and repeatedly reprinted to meet the enormous public demand, resulting in numerous early editions and impressions that are bibliographically complex but can be distinguished by differences resulting from the resetting of various pages. This is Todd's "a" impression (the first edition), with cancelled leaves (E2, F6, H2-3) and the press figures and catchwords noted by Todd, including no press figure (x) on page 354 He also identified small typographical differences from duplicate settings of the title page and terminal gatherings of the first two impressions, which are found in various combinations but do not indicate priority. In this copy, the position of "M" in the title page imprint date is to the right of the "D" in Dodsley (setting b, no priority), and the ornamental flower points up (setting b, no priority).
Todd, A Bibliography of Edmund Burke 53a. ESTC T46573. Grolier 100 63.
Armorial blindstamps to covers; bookplate.

Interior generally clean, expert repair to spine ends. A desirable copy in contemporary calf.