The Example of France. A Warning to Britain by YOUNG, Arthur

4 p.l., 182, [6] pp., one leaf of ads. 8vo, attractive modern calf, Greek key motif in gilt round sides, spine nicely gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Bury St. Edmund's: J. Rackham for W. Richardson, 1793. Second edition, enlarged. The first edition was published earlier in the same year; this work quickly ran to four editions and was translated into French, German, and Italian. Young's earlier Travels to France (1792), though acknowledged as a first-rate work, had been considered rather too uncritical of the French Revolution to gain much readership in England. "Young's experiences in France brought about a permanent change in his political views. From being a liberal and a reformer, by 1792 he had become an opponent of the revolution and a conservative in English matters. He was highly critical of the ancien régime but, equally, he attacked the excesses of the revolution, and now he was fearful of the consequences of reform in England, necessary though it was. In France he had seen destitute aristocrats sheltering in inns from the destruction of their châteaux, and he now received the dreadful news of the murder of his friend the duc de la Rochefoucauld, while another friend, the duc de Liaincourt, had taken refuge as an emigré in Bury St Edmunds. What was perhaps his most influential pamphlet, The Example of France a Warning to Britain, appeared in 1793 and reflected his changed views."-ODNB. Fine copy.