“THESE ARE THE TIMES THAT TRY MEN’S SOULS”: POLITICAL WORKS OF THOMAS PAINE WITH EARLY COLLECTED PRINTINGS OF COMMON SENSE, THE AMERICAN CRISIS AND RIGHTS OF MAN

PAINE, Thomas. The Political Works of Thomas Paine. London: W. T. Sherwin, 1817 [i.e. 1819]. Two volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter polished brown calf rebacked, original marbled boards.

Early two-volume collection of leading works by Paine—"one of the most remarkable political writers of the modern world"—issued by controversial London publishers Sherwin and Carlile, with engraved portrait frontispiece after Romney, in contemporary boards by J. Leighton.

This two-volume collection of Paine's writings was published within a decade of his death by fiery London radicals William Sherwin and Richard Carlile (alt. Carlisle). It early affirms Paine's legacy as "one of the most remarkable political writers of the modern world and the greatest radical of a radical age… through his pamphlet Common Sense and the American Crisis papers, he emboldened Americans to turn their colonial rebellion into a revolutionary war… and articulated an American identity charged with exceptional purpose and promise" (Kaye, Thomas Paine, 4). At the time of publication Sherwin and Carlile were at risk for arrest by simply publishing Paine in England. They "were every bit as abrasive and assertive as Paine himself, to whom they professed their indebtedness" (Hampsher-Monk, Impact of the French Revolution, 23). In addition to partnering on this collection, in 1819 Carlile issued his Political and Miscellaneous Works of Thomas Paine, along with Sherwin's Memoirs of the Life of Thomas Paine. That same year Carlile faced "two successive trials at the Guildhall for having published Age of Reason… and ultimately served several years in jail (Epstein, 108). Many works originally appearing in Sherwin's Political Register as well as separately issued. With general title page (I) and most individual title pages containing 1817 Sherwin imprints, Rights of Man, Part the Second with his 1819 imprint; American Crisis with Carlile's 1819 imprint. Separate paginations throughout. Sabin 58234. Gimbel-Paine, 4. Gimbel-Yale 177. Goldsmith's 21730; see 22314. Early owner signature in each volume dated "June 1853"; Volume I with small annotation to Contents in a similar hand.

Interior fine; lightest rubbing to boards. A handsome about-fine copy.