work that they seem to be in agreement, and if upon a more full reading he discovers deviance, they can “compare notes and endeavour to see who is in the right”. Overall Everett expresses his hope that the days of Malthus’s supremacy in the field of political economy are ending, and asserts that they are in agreement as to the fallacy of his ideas: “though some of his partisans in England adhere to him with extraordinary tenacity, his day, is, I think, nearly over”. Continuing his dislike of the British economists, Everett is also dismissive of Adam Smith in his theory of wages, who “did not bestow much attention upon this part of his subject and his chapter upon it is incorrect and unsatisfactory”. Everett’s estimation of Carey’s writing was correct; Carey would go on to spearhead the American critique of the English classical economics, with Malthus and Ricardo being subject to much attack in his later books. Overall, the letter is a fine artefact exhibiting, in a fraternal manner, the emergence of a distinctive American political economy, hostile to the English school of classical economics which was near-hegemonic in the early 19th century; an intellectual declaration of independence in political economy. One sheet folded once, writing on first three pages, fourth addressed and posted to “H. B. [ sic ] Carey, Esq. Philadelphia”. Docketed, probably in Carey’s hand, “Alex. Everett, Oct 21”. Page size 246 × 198 mm; circa 450 words in total. Transcript of letter included. Slight splits to folds, a little toned, a couple of paper repairs without loss to text, later pencilled notes transcribing obscure words. In very good condition. £2,500 [116816] 58 FIELDEN, John. The Curse of the Factory System. One of two 1836 editions of this influential pamphlet by the Manchester factory owner, Chartist and radical MP John Fielden (1784–1849), surveying the harshness of factory conditions and child labour. This copy in original wrappers with a scarce Manchester imprint, that of the “ardent radical and bookseller” William Willis (Frow, p. 7), and an intriguing contemporary provenance. Fielden “argued that a shorter working day would serve the interests of owners and employees by stemming over- production and restoring a healthy level of demand for cotton goods. It was a familiar argument, but that it came in this case from a leading textile master gave it a public credibility that it would otherwise have lacked” ( ODNB ). The work gained its author the sobriquet of “Honest John” Fielden and made him something of a hero of the northern working classes, although his peers in parliament were less enthusiastic. There were two editions in 1836, the present one and Anne Cobbett’s London edition, without established priority but with this northern edition probably earlier. It was the first publication from the press of William Milner, an Owenite socialist and later a Chartist, whose press specialized in cheap, radical literature. The rear wrapper of the present copy advertises Matthew Fletcher’s The People’s Medical Adviser , Halifax: Printed and published by W. Milner, [1836] With a contemporary working class provenance
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which was put out by William WiIlis and Anne Cobbett; it was advertised in The Northern Star in January 1839, which is possibly the date of this copy. Provenance: front free endpaper inscribed, “1839, John Griffiths Book, Little Bolton, Lancashire”. This may well be the John Griffiths whose son was baptized at St Peter’s, the parish church of Bolton, in April 1838; his occupation was given as “smith”. Little Bolton, on the outskirts of the city, was the scene of rioting in 1839, when a group of special constables were besieged by a number of Chartists and had to be rescued by a company of soldiers led by Bolton’s mayor. Sextodecimo. Original yellow wrappers printed in black, yellow endpapers. Soiled, contents toned, minor wear to spine, yet still an excellent copy in the original wrappers. ¶ Edmund & Ruth Frow, Manchester and Salford Chartists , Lancashire Community Press, 1996. £1,250 [133000]
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Peter Harrington
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