[Rarebooks] fa: THE BRITISH MERCURY - 1790 - RARE RUN OF 52 ISSUES (Washington, Franklin, French & American Revolutions &c.)

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, along with several other 18th- and 19th-century titles,  
auctions ending Sunday, Sept. 26. Details and images can be found at  
the URL below or by searching under the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/yhk74ma
OR
http://shop.ebay.com/arch_in_la/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340

Thanks,
Ardwight Chamberlain
L.A.

The British Mercury, or Annals of History, Politics, Manners,  
Literature, Arts, etc. of the British Empire. Vol. Xii-XV for 1790.  
Hamburgh: Printed for the Editor and Sold in Commission by B.G.  
Hoffmann, [1790]. FIRST EDITION. Four volumes in one; thick 8vo  
(8x5x3.75 in.; 20x12x9.5 cm.) in original drab paper wraps, page-edges  
untrimmed; engraved title-pages; [2], 414, [4 (ads)]; [2], 414; [2],  
414; [2], 414, [4 (ads)] pp. NCBEL II:1336; Crane & Kaye (Census of  
British Newspapers and Periodicals) 74.

A rare run of four volumes, 52 weekly issues, January 2-December 25,  
1790, of this unusual and short-lived periodical (1787-91) that  
supplied expatriate Brits and anglophone Europeans with news from  
Britain: politics, legal affairs, court gossip, art and theater  
reports, new books, anecdotes, poetry, general news and  
advertisements. The British Mercury was edited by Johann Wilhelm von  
Archenholz (1741-1812), historian, travel writer, journalist, and  
ardent anglophile. As well as providing a wealth of late 18th-century  
cultural detail, the volumes offered here are of particular interest  
for the plethora of articles related to the fledgling United States  
and the American and French Revolutions, including many of George  
Washington's addresses and a nine-page laudatory obituary of Benjamin  
Franklin...
Exceedingly scarce: OCLC locates only one (incomplete) set, at  
Princeton. Spine a bit sunned/toned with short tears at the crown and  
foot; some bumping, light soiling and spotting to the untrimmed fore- 
edges of the text block; otherwise contents are clean, crisp and  
bright, securely bound. An extraordinary survivor and a superb example  
of a supremely uncommon title.