Difference between revisions of "Dissertation Upon Parties"

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(Summary paragraphs by Evan Feely & Evidence.)
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===by Henry St. John Bolingbroke===
 
===by Henry St. John Bolingbroke===
 
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<blockquote> 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. <ref> H. T. Dickinson, ‘St John, Henry, styled first Viscount Bolingbroke (1678–1751)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/24496, accessed 27 June 2013] </ref> </blockquote>
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''A Dissertation upon Parties'' was originally published in 1733 in the form of nineteen letters, and was notable for its sustained attack on the policies of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Walpole Robert Walpole], commonly held to be the first prime minister of England, and in its calls for leaders of the Whigs and Tories (England’s two leading political parties at the time) to work together in an effort to renew constitutional safeguards allegedly weakened due to corruption within the British government.<ref>Caroline Robbins, “‘Discordant Parties’: A Study of the Acceptance of Party Englishmen,” ''Political Science Quarterly'' 73 (1958): 505-529.</ref> It was written by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_St_John,_1st_Viscount_Bolingbroke Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke] (1678–1751), a leader of the Tories and renowned English politician and political philosopher.<ref>H. T. Dickinson, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/24496 "St John, Henry, styled first Viscount Bolingbroke (1678–1751)"] in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed 11 Oct 2013]</ref><br />
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Becoming a Member of Parliament in 1701, Bolingbroke subsequently served in the positions of Secretary of War and Secretary of State of both the Northern and Southern Departments.<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica Online'', s. v. "Henry Saint John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke," accessed October 02, 2013, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/72043/Henry-Saint-John-1st-Viscount-Bolingbroke-Baron-Saint-John-of-Lydiard-Tregoze.</ref> He was forced to flee to Paris in 1715 after being charged with treason for supporting the Jacobite rebellion, which sought to overthrow King George I, but he was pardoned eight years later and returned to England.<ref>Ibid.</ref> A prominent member of the “country party,” a group of Tories and disaffected Whigs who opposed what they perceived as the self-interested actions of England’s politicians and parliamentary leaders, his ideas were presented in ''A Dissertation upon Parties'' along with several other essays he published around the same period.<ref>Robbins, “‘Discordant Parties’: A Study of the Acceptance of Party Englishmen."</ref><br />
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While the ideology expressed in ''A Dissertation upon Parties'' proved to have limited sway over English thought, it was exceptionally more influential in the American colonies where Bolingbroke’s writings were widely read by individuals such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.<ref>Martin van Gelderen and Quentin Skinner, '"Republicanism: Republicanism and Constitutionalism in Early Modern Europe'' (Cambridge: Cambidge University Press, 2002), 41.</ref> His warnings concerning corruption within the British Court were particularly significant in the development of the political philosophy of Republicanism,<ref>Ibid.</ref> or the belief that people are entitled to certain unalienable rights that cannot be deprived by any form of government, a central tenet of the American Revolution and the system of values it fomented.
  
 
==Bibliographic Information==
 
==Bibliographic Information==
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'''Author:''' Henry St. John Bolingbroke
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'''Author:''' Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke.
 
   
 
   
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'''Title:'''  A Dissertation Upon Parties: in Several Letters to Caleb D'Anvers, Esq
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'''Title:'''  ''A Dissertation Upon Parties: in Several Letters to Caleb D'Anvers, Esq.''
  
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'''Publication Info:''' 7th ed. London: Printed for R. Francklin, 1749.  
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'''Publication Info:''' London: Printed for R. Francklin, 1749.  
  
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'''Edition:'''
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'''Edition:''' Seventh edition; xxxix, 322 pages, [1] leaf of plates.
  
 
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
 
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
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Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] as ''[Bolingbroke]'s Dissertation on parties. 8vo.'' and given by [[Thomas Jefferson]] to his son-in-law [[Thomas Mann Randolph]]. It later appears on Randolph's 1832 estate inventory as "'Dissertation on parties' ($1.50 value)." We cannot determine the precise edition Wythe owned from the information available. Brown's Bibliography<ref>Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433</ref> lists the 8th edition (1754) based on the copy Jefferson sold to the Library of Congress.<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'', 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 3:132 [no.2734].</ref> [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s. v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on June 28, 2013, http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe </ref> on LibraryThing includes no specific edition.
  
 
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
 
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==

Revision as of 13:48, 11 October 2013

by Henry St. John Bolingbroke

A Dissertation upon Parties was originally published in 1733 in the form of nineteen letters, and was notable for its sustained attack on the policies of Robert Walpole, commonly held to be the first prime minister of England, and in its calls for leaders of the Whigs and Tories (England’s two leading political parties at the time) to work together in an effort to renew constitutional safeguards allegedly weakened due to corruption within the British government.[1] It was written by Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1678–1751), a leader of the Tories and renowned English politician and political philosopher.[2]

Becoming a Member of Parliament in 1701, Bolingbroke subsequently served in the positions of Secretary of War and Secretary of State of both the Northern and Southern Departments.[3] He was forced to flee to Paris in 1715 after being charged with treason for supporting the Jacobite rebellion, which sought to overthrow King George I, but he was pardoned eight years later and returned to England.[4] A prominent member of the “country party,” a group of Tories and disaffected Whigs who opposed what they perceived as the self-interested actions of England’s politicians and parliamentary leaders, his ideas were presented in A Dissertation upon Parties along with several other essays he published around the same period.[5]

While the ideology expressed in A Dissertation upon Parties proved to have limited sway over English thought, it was exceptionally more influential in the American colonies where Bolingbroke’s writings were widely read by individuals such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.[6] His warnings concerning corruption within the British Court were particularly significant in the development of the political philosophy of Republicanism,[7] or the belief that people are entitled to certain unalienable rights that cannot be deprived by any form of government, a central tenet of the American Revolution and the system of values it fomented.

Bibliographic Information

Author: Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke.

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

Publication Info: London: Printed for R. Francklin, 1749.

Edition: Seventh edition; xxxix, 322 pages, [1] leaf of plates.

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Listed in the Jefferson Inventory as [Bolingbroke]'s Dissertation on parties. 8vo. and given by Thomas Jefferson to his son-in-law Thomas Mann Randolph. It later appears on Randolph's 1832 estate inventory as "'Dissertation on parties' ($1.50 value)." We cannot determine the precise edition Wythe owned from the information available. Brown's Bibliography[8] lists the 8th edition (1754) based on the copy Jefferson sold to the Library of Congress.[9] George Wythe's Library[10] on LibraryThing includes no specific 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.

View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.

References

  1. ↑ Caroline Robbins, “‘Discordant Parties’: A Study of the Acceptance of Party Englishmen,” Political Science Quarterly 73 (1958): 505-529.
  2. ↑ H. T. Dickinson, "St John, Henry, styled first Viscount Bolingbroke (1678–1751)" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed 11 Oct 2013]
  3. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "Henry Saint John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke," accessed October 02, 2013, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/72043/Henry-Saint-John-1st-Viscount-Bolingbroke-Baron-Saint-John-of-Lydiard-Tregoze.
  4. ↑ Ibid.
  5. ↑ Robbins, “‘Discordant Parties’: A Study of the Acceptance of Party Englishmen."
  6. ↑ Martin van Gelderen and Quentin Skinner, '"Republicanism: Republicanism and Constitutionalism in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge: Cambidge University Press, 2002), 41.
  7. ↑ Ibid.
  8. ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
  9. ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 3:132 [no.2734].
  10. ↑ LibraryThing, s. v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on June 28, 2013, http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe
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