[Rarebooks] fa: MAJOR ANDRE & BENEDICT ARNOLD + GORDON RIOTS + CAPT. COOK &c. in 1780 Gentleman's Magazine

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auctions ending Sunday, March 23. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching under the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/pe9veeh

Thanks for looking,
Ardwight Chamberlain
L.A.


The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle. Volume L [50]. For the Year MDCCLXXX [1780]. London: Printed at St. John's Gate, for D. Henry, [1779]. Twelve monthly issues (Jan.-Dec.), plus the supplement, volume title, indices and preface. Thick 8vo in early quarter calf and marbled boards; iv + 628 + [16] pp.; with in-text charts and tables, woodcut diagrams and illustrations, plus 13 copper-engraved plates and maps, seven of which are folding.

With a great deal of vivid contemporary coverage of people and events in this pivotal year of the AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, including:
	- MAJOR JOHN ANDRE. A lengthy (7 pp.) account of the "Proceedings on the Trial of Major Andre." Earlier in the volume can be found a report of the failure of Benedict Arnold's plan and the capture of Andre.
	- AMERICAN AFFAIRS and HISTORICAL CHRONICLE: a semi-monthly collection of dispatches, letters and reports from Virginia, Philadelphia, New York, and other parts of the rebellious colonies, as well as an almost day-by-day account of related events:
		- "In October last, a party of Indians surprized a body of Virginian militia… near the mouth of the Miame, and cut in pieces more than 50 of their number…"
		- Dec. 15 [1779]. "John Adams, esq; member of the American Congress, minister plenipotentiary to the court of France, and Mr. Deane… arrived at Corunna in Spain, on board a French frigate, from Boston." 
		- Total of the rebel forces commanded by Major-General Lincoln, at the surrender of Charles-Town, May 12, 1780, now prisoners of war.
		- Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton's Letter to Earl Cornwallis.
		- In Congress, May 22. "Ordered, that the letter of the 13th of May from Gen Washington, and the letter of the 16th from the Marquis de La Fayette,… be published (followed by the text of the letters).
		- In the state of Massachusetts, a proclamation was issued on the 11th of July, requiring in the most peremptory manner all officers, &c., to cause their respective corps to march with the utmost expedition to the places of rendezvous, to be in readiness to co-operate with the forces of their illustrious ally… "
		- "On Monday, July 21, a committee from the general assembly of Rhode Island waited on his Excellency the French General [Rochambeau], with the following address…"
		- August 28. "Adm. Digby with 12 ships of the line and two frigates sailed from Spithead on a secret expedition."
		- Sept. 15. "A brig from Newcastle, laden with coals, arrived at Portsmouth in a most bloody condition, having engaged a French privateer off Beachy-head…", etc.
	- Gen. Lincoln's Letter to Congress on the Defeat of the combined Army before Georgia.
	- The Legislature of the Colonies discussed.
	- A Proposal for a General Pacification, by the Dean of Glocester.
	- Earl Cornwallis's Account of the Defeat of Gen. Gates in North Carolina.
	- A caustic review of The Narrative of Lieutenant-General Sir William Howe… relative to his Conduct during his late Command of the King's Troops in North-America; To which is added, Some Observations upon a Pamphlet entitled Letters to a Nobleman ("Sir W. Howe seems to have been as dilatory in repelling this attack at home, as he was (if the charge be true) in attacking the common enemy abroad…").
	- Indian Ferocity and French perfidy exemplified: an Account of the Massacre of the English garrison of Fort Henry in 1757 (during the French and Indian War).
	- A Parable against Persecution, by Dr. [Benjamin] Franklin.
	- Etc., etc.

Other topics and features of note include:
	- Extensive coverage and analysis of THE GORDON RIOTS (June 2-7): "Rise and Progress of the late Tumults"; "Narrative of the riotous Proceedings of a lawless Multitude assembled on Pretence of supporting a Petition for the Repeal of a late Act in Favour of Roman Catholics"; etc. (over multiple issues).
	- CAPTAIN COOK. Several items, including "a circumstantial account of the death of Capt. Cook, with the outlines of his voyage"; Some Account of New Zealand (discussing, in part, the similarities between that country and the Scottish Highlands); an engraved View of an arched Rock projecting into the Sea at New Zealand; a review of Anna Seward's Elegy on Captain Cook, with a long excerpt; etc.
	- On Negro Slaves. Cruelty attending the Slave Trade as at present practised; with a Project for abolishing it.
	- Plans of the Harbour and the Fortifications now erecting at Omoa, in the Bay of Honduras (folding plate).
	- Other PLATES include: Lines and Works in Fortification by Lochée (folding); Nogayan Tartars with their moveable huts and cattle; View of Castle Caldwell in Ireland (folding); Design for a Wooden Bridge; Roman Comedians, from an old drawing (folding); View of the extraordinary appearance of a Rainbow; Saxon and Roman Coins, Astronomical Diagrams, portraits, antiquities, etc.
	- A monthly Summary of Proceedings in the present Parliament ("[Mr. Fox] then asked, what has become of the American war? that war which has cost the nation so many millions… and the lives of so many thousand British subjects… If it be true, that Gen Clinton has an army of Americans only equal to that of Gen. Washington, he wished to know, how their inactivity was to be accounted for?")
	- An Alphabetical List of both Houses of Parliament.
	- Ceremonial of the Funeral of Mr. Garrick.
	- Memoir of the late Joseph Highmore (painter), accompanied by an engraved portrait.
	- Remarkable Argument, in the Court of King's Bench, in the Case of a Murder committed by a Press-Gang at Bury.
	- Remarks on the Booksellers of the last Century.
	- Authentic Account of a Gigantic Child.
	- Monthly lists of births, deaths, bankrupts, murders, prices of grain, etc.
	- And much more...