Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$55.97 + shipping
Description: Disbound. 54pp. First published in 1786, these dissertations were based on observations in the state of Philadelphia, although Paine remarks in his preface parts of the work concern 'a larger scale'.
Seller: Jarndyce, The 19th Century Booksellers, London, United Kingdom
Paine, Thomas. DISSERTATIONS ON FIRST PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT. , 1817.
Price: US$150.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: London 1817 W. T. Sherwin. Believed to be the first London. Octavo, 28pp., removed and bound in later wraps. VG.
Seller: Xerxes Fine and Rare Books and Documents, Glen Head, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$3322.19 + shipping
Description: London, Printed by W.T. Sherwin, 1817 and 1819 [mainly first editions thus]. Octavo, [vi] pages (an engraved frontispiece after Romney's famous portrait, dated 1819; the cumulative title leaf, dated 1817; and the contents leaf), plus seven separately paginated (and separately published) pamphlets bound together as issued: 'Case of the Officers of Excise' (16 pages); 'Common Sense' (56 pages); 'American Crisis ([ii], 196, [2] (integral blank) pages); 'Public Good' (36 pages (last blank) with 2 diagrams); 'Letter to the Abbe Raynal' (60 (last blank), iv (appendix, last blank) pages); 'Dissertations on Government' (54 pages); and 'Prospects of the Rubicon' (34 pages). Original plain papered boards with the original paper title-label on the spine, all edges uncut; minor loss to the head and foot of the spine; front joint neatly reinforced; offsetting to the endpapers, frontispiece and title page, with a tear to the front flyleaf expertly sealed; minimal signs of use and age; overall, in excellent condition, with the individual pamphlets basically in fine condition. Seven scarce separately-published pamphlets by Thomas Paine, including some of his most influential titles, bound in one volume, as issued. The titles, with the date of publication followed by the place and date of the original publication, are: (1) 'The Case of the Officers of Excise .' (1817/ Lewis, 1772); (2) 'Common Sense, addressed to the Inhabitants of America .' (1817/ Philadelphia, 1776); (3) 'The American Crisis' (R. Carlile, 1819/ 1775-1783); (4) 'Public Good, being an Examination into the Claim of Virginia to the Vacant Western Territory .' (1817/ Philadelphia, 1780); (5) 'A Letter to the Abbe Raynal on the Affairs of North America .' (1817/ Philadelphia, 1782); (6) 'Dissertations on Government, the Affairs of the Bank and Paper Money' (1817/ Philadelphia, 1786); and (7) 'Prospects of the Rubicon' (1817/ London, 1787). See 'Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society', October 1960: 177 ('Each of the articles in this edition has its own title page, and could be purchased separately both on fine and on common or bluish paper. Many had previously appeared in Sherwin's "Political Register" [weekly]').
Seller: Michael Treloar Booksellers ANZAAB/ILAB, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Price: US$8200.00 + shipping
Description: First British edition of Paine's defense of the Bank of North America. Small octavo, bound in modern wrappers. In near fine condition with light toning to the extremities. "Another time that tried men's souls occurred in 1780 when the American troops were at the end of their patience because of lack of pay and scarcity of supplies. Serious features of mutiny and sedition had already appeared. A tone of discouragement swept through the Pennsylvania Assembly, for the treasury was empty. One member said, 'We might as well give up first as last.' But Paine did not agree, and when he drew his meager salary, he took $500 and started a subscription for the relief of soldiers. Robert Morris and many others followed, and by June 18, 1780, had raised 300,000 pounds and started a bank which supplied the army through the campaign.When the bank came under attack by those who favored inflation after the war, Paine rushed to its defense with this pamphlet."(Gimbel 45). In very good condition with the title page backed with some restoration, period ownership signature, stamp to the verso of page 53, notations throughout.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.