Lot 308
Cobbett, William
Preliminary part of paper against gold
Auction: 8 February 2006 at 11:00 GMT
Description
London: John M. Cobbett, 1821. [Bound with] Commoner. A letter to the King shewing, by incontestible facts, the fundamental causes of our unexampled national distress. London: Benbow, 1820; Prentice, David. Thoughts on the repeal of the Bank Restriction Law. London: Murray, 1811; Huskisson, William. The question of depreciation of our currency stated and examined. London: Murray, 1810; Whig Subject. A letter, respectfully addressed to His Most Excellent Majesty, George the Fourth, upon his accession ... by a Whig Subject. Edinburgh: Dick, 1820; Aristarchus Anti-Hornerus. A Salford salamander anatomized: in nine letters to the Rev. Melville Horne. London: Effingham Wilson, 1821; Wakefield, E.G. Swing unmasked; or, the causes of rural incendiarism. London: Effingham Wilson, c. 1820; Pecchio, Joseph. A letter to Henry Brougham, Esq. M.P. London: Partridge, 1824 and three others, together 11 pamphlets, all 8vo., contemporary cloth, lower inner joint split, some title-pages dusty and spotted.
Note: Several of these pamphlets deal with the problems of an inflated paper currency. Originally published in the Political Register 1810-15; then in 2 volumes in 1815; then in parts in 1817 & then issued under different titles, Cobbett's Paper against gold is a "lively, and in the main accurate history of the suspension of cash payments by the Bank of England in 1797, and the effects of it on the currency." (Palgrave) In his Question, Huskisson "took an important part in the protest made against an inflated paper currency ... laying down most clearly and vigorously the principles upon which a sound monetary system must be based." (ibid.)