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1774 & 1776 Fourth Editions. All others: First Editions. Eight Volumes. 21 x 12.5 cm. 1774: (2), 280, 245, (10) / 1776: IV, 270, 259, (9) / 1778: IV, 334, 245, (11) / 1779: vii, 442, 193, (10) / 1780: vii, 404, 251, (12) / 1781: (2), 339, 207, (12) / 1787: II, 320, 202, (14). Uniform contemporary tree calf. Gilt decorations to spine. Dentelles. Generally very good condition. Bindings seriously rubbed and bumped. Edges and end papers age darkened and dust dulled. Spine labels missing. Some joints started to crack. Some material losses to heads of spines and corners (see images). The 1779 volume has a split spine. Bindings remain sound. Internally mildly age darkened / dust dulled, occasionally foxed, otherwise clean. The 1781 volumes shows some damp and bookworm damage for the last 20 pages or so, not affecting readability. No annotations, library stamps etc. Eight clean copies. Excellent reading copies or candidates for rebinding. The Annual Register was created in 1758 by the publishers James and Robert Dodsley. On 24 April 1758 the Dodsley brothers signed a contract with Edmund Burke (1729-97) to write and edit the material for The Annual Register, which was conceived as an annual publication which would review the history, politics and literature of the day. Born in Ireland, Burke had trained as a lawyer before abandoning this field and turning to writing. The Annual Register comprised of several sections, such as History of Europe, Characters, Chronicle, Antiquities, Natural History, Miscellaneous Essays, Poetry and an Account of Books. Of particular interest to historians is the collection of 'State Papers', a miscellany of primary source material which included official documents, speeches, letters and accounts. Given the conventions of the day, within which journalism was a disreputable profession for a gentleman, Burke was publicly reticent about his connection with The Annual Register. However, his biographers agree that Burke wrote and edited the book single-handedly until 1765, when he entered Parliament. Many suggest that he continued to contribute to the history section and that he played a significant role in overseeing The Annual Register's compilation until the 1790s. The eight volumes presented below are of particular interest as they provide a contemporary account (from a British viewpoint) of the events leading to the American Revolution and during the American Revolutionary War. Of particular interest in this respect will be the following sections in the various registers: 1774: A report on the Boston Tea Party ('The town of Boston, which had been so long obnoxious to government, was the scene of the first outrage…a number of armed me, under the disguise of Mohawk Indians, boarded the ships, and in a few hours discharged their whole cargoes of tea into the sea, without doing any other damage, or offering any injury to the captains or crews'). The volume also includes an extensive amount devoted to correspondence between America and the King and parliament exploring growing concerns that would lead to the Revolutionary War, as well as documents, printed in full, passed by the First Continental Congress on Oct. 26, 1774, petitioning King George III to repeal the hated Intolerable Acts. Also included is the "Association of the American Congress", created on Oct. 20, 1774. 1776: The 1776 volume begins with a 'Retrospective view of American Affairs in the year 1775' and the invasion of Canada. It continues reviewing the conflicts in the Americas, including the bombardment of Boston, the landing on Long Island and the taking of New York. Under the heading "Reasons assigned by the Continental Congress, for the North-American Colonies and Provinces withdrawing their Allegience to the King of Great-Britain", it prints the Declaration of Independence of 4 July 1776 (page 261 ff.) and the Articles of Confederation, resolved by the Congress on 4 October 1776 (page 264 ff.). Also of interest: on page 236 ff. it contains.
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