PORCUPINE'S POLITICAL CENSOR, FOR SEPT. 1796. CONTAINING, THE LIFE OF TOM PAINE, INTERSPERSED WITH REMARKS AND REFLECTIONS...
Philadelphia: Published by William Cobbett, [1796]. [2], [251]-327, [1 blank] pp. Disbound, light foxing. Very Good.
"It is not clear whether this edition was ever issued separately." NAIP. It was, like several other of Porcupine's Censors, also issued as part of Cobbett's 'Porcupine's Works.' This printing is a variant of William Cobbett 20c: in this copy the term '[Sept.]' does not appear opposite signature B.
The Censor inveighs against Thomas Paine, whose devotees "are professed admirers of all that is of low and even base extraction." Paine's private life as a womanizer and adulterer is held up to scorn; and his public life fares no better. Motivated only by self-interest, he would "have stigmatized the Americans as rebels and traitors" had England satisfied his financial needs. Paine was a "traitor," pure and simple.
Gaines, William Cobbett 20c. Not in Evans or Gaines, Concealed Authorship. NAIP w027763. Item #29156
Price: $250.00