"I OUGHT NOT TO HAVE SUSPECTED YOU OF TREACHERY": 1797 ENGLISH EDITION OF PAINE'S OPEN LETTER TO GEORGE WASHINGTON

PAINE, Thomas. Letter from Thomas Paine to George Washington, President of the United States of America. London: Printed for H.D. Symonds, 1797. Octavo, recent half brown calf. $3000.

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

The highly combustible relationship between Thomas Paine and George Washington, forged in the Revolution only to shatter with the publication of Paine's open Letter to George Washington, "is not just the story of two men; it is the story of the entire Revolutionary generation" (Hamilton, Rise and Fall, 150). Paine's brilliant Common Sense (1776) was famously championed by Washington at a turning point in the Revolution and Paine, in turn, dedicated Rights of Man (1791) to Washington. Though once a "staunch supporter of Washington" (Fruchtman, 350), Paine ultimately blamed the President "for not quickly interceding on his behalf when he was imprisoned by the French as an enemy alien. Moreover, while in prison he had contracted a serious illness, which he likewise now blamed on Washington's negligence… Paine had written Washington on September 20, 1794: 'Your silence in not inquiring into the cause of that imprisonment and reclaiming me against it, was tacitly giving me up. I ought not to have suspected you of treachery; but whether I recover from the illness I now suffer, or not, I shall continue to think you treacherous, till you give me cause to think otherwise.' When Paine did not receive any answer to this letter, he was convinced that Washington had connived at his imprisonment, and published this violent diatribe, first in America in 1796, and shortly afterward in England and other countries in many editions" (Gimbel-Yale, 430, 434). Paine charged: "You folded your arms, forgot your friend, and became silent." Attacking Washington's leadership in the Revolution, he boldly wrote: "It is time that the eyes of America be opened upon you… without whole assistance in men, money and ships, Mr. Washington would have cut but a poor figure in the American war." Paine targeted not only Washington, but also John Jay and Governor Morris. Thomas Jefferson, who had a first edition of this work in his library, was also briefly mentioned in connection with Morris' appointment as Minister of France, and John Adams was characterized as "one of those men who never contemplated the origin of government, or comprehended anything of first principles." "The President himself barely responded and certainly not in public" (Fruchtman, 353). First published in Philadelphia in 1796. Symonds' stated "Second Edition"; two other London editions were also issued in 1797 by Eaton and by Williams, no priority established. ESTC T5843. Sabin 58224. Howes P24. Goldsmiths'-Kress no. 17193. See Gimbel-Yale 104. Title page with small remnant of early inked paper label to lower inner corner, verso with early inked numerals and red armorial stamp of the Tetschner Bibliothek (the Thun-Hohenstein library in Decin, Czech Republic).

Binding and contents clean and fresh. A handsome copy.