[TRANSPORTATION] Court examen de l’etat politique de la Grande-Bretagne au commencement de l’année 1787;

Traduit de l’anglais, de M. P., sur la septieme Édition. Par M. L. D. Paris : chez Hardouin & Gattey, 1787. Octavo (185 x 120 mm), disbound; pp. iv. [5]-76; a crisp, clean example.

French translation of the seventh edition of a work attributed to Tory politician Sir Nathaniel William Wraxall, 1st Baronet (1751-1831), A short review of the political state of Great-Britain at the commencement of the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven (Ferguson, 28). Wraxall was a detractor of the British penal system in general, and a vehement opponent of the scheme for transportation to the proposed penal colony at Botany Bay in particular. The last few pages contain what are among the first references in print to transportation to Botany Bay, including scathing criticism of Lord Sydney.

The translator, Louis Dutens (1730-1812), was a French writer who spent most of his life in Britain or in British service on the continent. He was both a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Trove: SLNSW; NLA

[TOGETHER WITH]

Réponse du Peuple au Pamphlet de la Cour, intitulé: Court Examen de l’Etat Politique de la Grande-Bretagne au commencement de l’Année 1787. Traduit de l’Anglois, de M. D., sur la Quatrième Edition. Paris : chez Hardouin & Gattey, 1787. Octavo (185 x 120 mm), disbound; pp. 40; a crisp, clean example.

French translation, also by Louis Dutens, of The people’s answer to the court pamphlet: entitled a short review of the political state of Great Britain (London, 1787). This is a response to Wraxall’s polemic against the British government, attributed to Whig statesman and Foreign Secretary, Charles James Fox (1749–1806), a fierce proponent of transportation.

No copies located on Trove.