The Rights and Liberties of Englishmen Asserted; With a Collection...
"How Diligent Our Wise Ancestors Were to Keep Out the French" [Wagstaffe, Thomas (1645-1712)]. The Rights and Liberties of Englishmen Asserted. With a Collection of Statutes and Records of Parliament Against Foreigners. Shewing, That by the Constitution of England, No Outlandish Man, Whether Naturaliz'd or Not, Is Capable of Any Office in England or Ireland. That No Man Ought to be Made a Bishop, But he that is English Born. That No Outlandish Man Ought to Work or Trade, But Under the Governance of English Men. That No Outlandish Broker Ought to be Imployed Here. With Other Useful Observations. Humbly Offered to the Consideration of the Honourable House of Commons. London: Printed for A. Baldwin, 1701. 26, [2] pp. Publisher's advertisements to final leaf. Quarto (8" x 6-1/2"). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlet housed in plain folder with the embossed library stamp of John Fowles. Light toning, foxing and soiling to folder, which has a small tear to its back. Moderate toning to pamphlet, a few leaves separating along spine but secure, occasional light foxing, light soiling in a few places, upper corner of leaf a4 (pp. 7-8) lacking without loss to text, print signature to the work ("D--f C--d") crossed out in ink on p. 26. $650. * Only edition. Published anonymously but attributed to Wagstaffe, this xenophobic tract maintains that the English constitution bars all foreigners from any office or employment unless "under the governance of English men." It appears to have been written more or less out of an anti-French sentiment, exempting the Irish from "outlandish" status. The author cites a number of legal and historical precedents for the exclusion of foreigners dating back to the Spartans. Fowles [1926-2005] was an important English novelist whose works include The Collector (1963), The Magus (1965) and The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969). He was drawn to historical source material, which often inspired his work. OCLC and the ESTC locate 1 copy of this title in a law library (Harvard). English Short-Title Catalogue T61087.
Price: $650.00
Book number 73269