[Smith, Provost William et al.]:

FOUR DISSERTATIONS, ON THE RECIPROCAL ADVANTAGES OF A PERPETUAL UNION BETWEEN GREAT-BRITAIN AND HER AMERICAN COLONIES. WRITTEN FOR MR. SARGENT'S PRIZE-MEDAL. TO WHICH [BY DESIRE] IS PREFIXED, AN EULOGIUM, SPOKEN ON THE DELIVERY OF THE MEDAL AT THE PUBLIC COMMENCEMENT IN THE COLLEGE OF PHILADELPHIA, MAY 20TH, 1766.

Philadelphia: Printed by William and Thomas Bradford, 1766. x, viii, 12, [2], 112 pp. Disbound with some loosening. Lower margins [usually blank] heavily stained. Hence, Good only.

An eight-page List of Subscribers precedes the Preface and Smith's Eulogium. "Smith made the presentation address at the delivery of the prize medal. The dissertations were by John Morgan, Stephen Watts, Joseph Reed and Francis Hopkinson" [Howes], the latter a future Signer of the Declaration of Independence. John Morgan won the prize offered by John Sargent in this essay contest, held in the wake of the repeal of the Stamp Act. Provost Smith was acutely aware of the "truly delicate and difficult" timing of the Dissertations, when "misunderstanding had untwisted all the cords of that Union, and the minds of many were too much inflamed."
"Mr. Sargent was a Bristol merchant who had given the money for the medal instead of making a contribution to the support of the college when asked by Smith during a fund-raising trip to England. Sargent specified that union with Great Britain was to be the topic of the dissertation" [Adams]. The prize was given at the 1766 commencement of the College of Pennsylvania, now the University of Pennsylvania.
FIRST EDITION. Adams, American Independence 40a. Evans 10400. Howes S691 ("aa"). Hildeburn 2213. Item #29567

Price: $850.00