Parliamentary Right Maintain'd or the Hanover Succession Justify'd...
The Constitutional Danger Posed by a "New Lurking Pretender" [Ridpath, George (d.1726)]. Parliamentary Right Maintain'd or the Hanover Succession Justify'd. Wherein The Hereditary Right to the Crown of England Asserted &c. Is Consider'd, in III. Parts. The Ist. Examins the Plea from Scripture. The II. That from the Laws & History of England, for Indefeasible Right, Nonresistance & Disposition of the Crown by Will. The III. Whether the Parliament, Can Repeal the Hanover Succession, As Now Establish'd by the Treaty of Union. With Reflections on the Treasonable Schemes of the Party, As They Occurr in Their Book: & Particularly that of a New Lurking Pretender. [London?]: Printed in 1714. [x], 262 [i.e. 260] pp. Octavo (7-1/4" x 4-3/4"). Contemporary paneled calf, raised bands to spine, small contemporary paper shelf label to foot, front joint and hinges carefully mended, front free endpaper renewed. a few minor nicks and scuffs to boards, a few small faint stains to rear board, light rubbing to extremities, corners bumped and somewhat worn. Moderate toning to text, faint dampstaining to heads of preliminaries. An appealing copy. $950. * Only edition, one of two issues from 1714. This vigorous defence of parliamentary democracy and the legality of the Hanover succession is based on an attack on George Harbin's Hereditary Right of the Crown of England Asserted (1713). It reflects the popular sentiment that George I, though a German king who knew little of England and spoke little English, was a Protestant and thus preferable to the hereditary Catholic alternative, James Edward Stuart, the "new lurking pretender." Ridpath, a Whig polemicist, libelist (and bigamist) published this book anonymously while living in exile in Scotland and Holland. In letters to the English minister at the Hague Ridpath described the difficulties of distributing this work from his place in exile: "Copies were sent by various ships to different ports in England; but many were lost or thrown overboard by the captains, who dared not land them, or were returned because no one dared receive them" (DNB). This casts an interesting light on the assumption (expressed in the ESTC) that the work was printed in London. English Short-Title Catalogue T43664.
Price: $950.00
Book number 67530