Maggs Bros.

Burke’s greatest work in which he preaches the doctrine of historical continuity and respect for the past. ‘People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors’. It is ‘one of the most brilliant of all polemics’ and, in many respects, proved to be a prophetic anticipation of the later course of the revolution. Although Burke did not initially condemn the French revolution, he was driven to write the Reflections through fear that the ‘aims, principles and methods in France might infect the people of England’ (PMM). The effect of the book was extraordinary: it created a reaction against the revolution; it divided Englishmen into two parties and did much to ruin the Whigs, producing a new political combination. It estranged Burke from Fox and most of the Whigs, and he ultimately crossed the floor of the House.

A nice copy, with some contrasting early annotations in pencil and ink circa 1790 and 1814 respectively, the latter comparing Burke to Thomas ‘Payne’ [sic].