A Dissertation Upon Parties

by Henry St. John Bolingbroke

Concerned with the interests of the landed gentry and conscious of the way Walpole abused his power, Bolingbroke devoted his pen to forging a political platform capable of uniting a majority of the political nation. He contributed nearly one hundred essays to The Craftsman. Many of these were individual polemical forays against the ministry that can be properly understood only by appreciating the specific context in which they were written and the debate with ministerial writers in which he was engaged. Some of his essays were part of a more coherent argument that delved below the surface of events and offered a sophisticated analysis of the political situation that resonated long after the death of the main protagonists. In 1730–31 Bolingbroke contributed twenty-two essays to The Craftsman using the persona of Humphrey Oldcastle. Together these formed his Remarks on the History of England. In 1733–4 he contributed a further series of essays which later formed A Dissertation upon Parties. In both of these series he laboured to destroy the old distinctions between whigs and tories and tried to forge a new country party able to defend the constitution and safeguard the liberties of the subject.

Bibliographic Information

Author: Henry St. John Bolingbroke

Title: A Dissertation Upon Parties: in Several Letters to Caleb D'Anvers, Esq

Publication Info: 7th ed. London: Printed for R. Francklin, 1749.

Edition:

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in full contemporary calf, gilt spine with orange and black lettering pieces, marbled endpapers and all edges marbled. Contains engraved frontispiece and woodcut initials and tail pieces. Purchased from Gibb's Bookshop ABA.