Diary Of The Besieged Resident In Paris

New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1871. First American Edition. The British politician and journalist was trapped in Paris when the war broke out, and forwarded letters describing the five-month siege to the Daily News by balloon or by messengers who promised to ërun the blockadeí. Many of the letters were lost en route and were now published here for the first time. ìThe reader will perceive that I pretend to no technical knowledge of military matters; I have only sought to convey a general notion of how the warlike operations around Paris appeared to a civilian spectator, and to give a fair and impartial account of the inner life of Paris during the isolation from the rest of Europe. My biasÖwas in favor of the Parisians, and I should have been heartily glad had they been successful in their resistance. There is, however, no getting over facts , and I could not long close my eyes to the most palpable fact ñ however I might wish it otherwise ñ that their leaders were men of little energy and small resource, and that they themselves seemed rather to depend for deliverance upon extraneous succor than upon their own exertions.î (Preface). 8vo. pp. 131, [12]ads. text in double columns. original printed wrs., front wr. with vignette portrait of the author (wrs. bit soiled, spine skewed & ends defective). Dawson Bros. [Publishers], Montreal paste-on label on upper wr