Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Petersburg and Norfolk.
Bonsal & Niles, printers,
Wilmington,
1803.
DC225 .W7
8vo. 240 leaves, portrait frontispiece, maps, folded tables.
This edition not in Lowndes, not in Gay, not in Ibrahim-Hilmy.
Purchased from
Duane in November 1803, price $
3.00, billed on November 27, 1804.
Sir Robert Thomas Wilson, 1777-1849, British general and Governor of Gibraltar. The first edition of this book was published in 1802, and was followed
by several editions in the same year.
[406]
85
Belsham’s hist. of Gr. Br. from the revolñ 1689-1714.
2. v.
8
vo.
1815 Catalogue, page 17. no. 47, Belsham’s history of Great Britain from the revolution, 1689-1714. 2 v 8vo.
BELSHAM,
William.
History of Great Britain, from the Revolution to the Accession of the House of Hanover. By W. Belsham. In
two Volumes. Vol. I [-II] . . .
London: Printed for
C. G. and J. Robinson,
1798.
First Edition. 2 vol. 8vo. vol. I, 246 leaves, vol. II, 219 leaves.
Lowndes I, page 152.
Grose 160.
This book frequently has a place on Jefferson’s recommended reading lists.
William Belsham, 1752-1827, English historian and political writer, was a whig and a strenuous advocate of political liberty.
[407]
86
Belsham’s Memoirs of the Kings of the house of Brunswick-Lunenburg.
3. v.
8
vo.
1714-1793.
1815 Catalogue, page 17. no. 48, as above.
BELSHAM,
William.
Memoirs of the Kings of Great Britain of the House of Brunswic-Lunenburg. By W. Belsham. Vol. I [-II].
Dublin: Printed for
J. Milliken,
1796.
2 vol. in 1. 8vo. 306 leaves: [ ]
2, A-T
8; [ ]
8, B-S
8, T-U
4; the first half-title reads
Two Volumes in One; the volumes have separate titles, signatures and pagination.
This edition not in Lowndes.
It is not quite clear from Jefferson’s manuscript catalogue, his correspondence, and the Library of Congress catalogues which volumes of Belsham’s histories were in the Jefferson library.
Belsham wrote a series of histories of this period of English history with different titles, re-issued in 1806 with a general
title. Of these the edition of the Memoirs of the Kings House
[
sic
] of Brunswick-Lunenburg in Jefferson’s library was issued in 2 volumes in 1, and is so described in the Library of Congress
catalogues of 1831 and later. Jefferson’s manuscript entry calls for 3 volumes as above. From his correspondence it seems probable that Jefferson included other histories by Belsham
under this heading. On September 26, 1810, he wrote from Monticello to Joseph Milligan: “
. . . I possess Belsham’s history of George I. & II. in 2. vols 8
vo. and 3. vols of his history of Geo. III. bringing it down to 1793. it has been considerably added to since that, & I should
be glad either to get the additional volumes or to exchange mine for a compleat copy of the work, paying a reasonable difference.
”
These histories, in which in his account of the American Revolution Belsham justified the Americans in their resistance to
England, were considered by Jefferson as “
excellent, worthy of being read,” and are on most of his lists of recommended historical reading. The first edition was printed in London in 1793.
[408]
