Listing is for the pictured work:
M'Fingal: An Epic Poem in Four Cantos
Written by John Trumbull, Esq.
From the press of Matthew Carey.
1791, Philadelphia.
Hardbound book, covered in full leather.
Piece measures 4.25" x 6.75."
95 pages.
The last page includes a listing of "books lately published by M. Carey" at "No. 118, Market Street, Next door to F. Bailey."
For context, M'Fingal is the eponymous name of the pseudo-Scootish poet in the mock epic poem by John Trumbull. Written in the satiric style of the seventeenth-century English poet, Samuel Butler. This crude, but effective epigrammatic form was a popular vehicle in America for political commentary at the time of the Revolution. It was condemned in Britain, but the poem was very popular in the United States, in celebrating the struggle for independence.
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A note on the publisher:
(from the internet site that bears his name)
"Outside academia he is all but forgotten, but in America’s Early Republic, citizens throughout the United States knew of him by his imprint, his publications, or his pamphlets. Mathew Carey was a printer, publisher, bookseller, and political economist. He first gained national recognition publishing the American Museum, a magazine read throughout the United States by influential figures. He traveled from New England to the Deep South, setting up a national distribution network his magazine. Later he used his system for books and political pamphlets. During the first quarter of the nineteenth century, he printed and sold more books and Bibles than any other publisher in the United States. He encouraged American authors and directed taste in American literature.
He wrote a revisionist history of Ireland and bolstered his arguments with facts from history. He preserved documents on the Constitution and the Jay Treaty for posterity. Following Alexander Hamilton’s death, Tench Coxe, Mathew Carey and Hezekiah Niles continued to promote the American school of political economy to protect infant industries in the United States. An ardent nationalist, Carey campaigned for a central bank, tariffs, and improvements to America’s roads and canals. When Pennsylvania’s Jeffersonians split into factions, Mathew Carey, Tench Coxe, Alexander Dallas and John Binns, articulated policies that fused democracy, egalitarianism and capitalism.
During the War of 1812 Carey observed the difficulties of New England’s economy and its powerful merchants with intense concern. He feared that New England would secede from the Union, and the nation would erupt in a civil war. He wrote the Olive Branch to preserve national unity. He considered the Olive Branch as one of the most important works. It was exceptionally successful, outselling every other book on politics published from 1784 until 1820.
Manufacturers praised Carey and Southerners vilified him for his writings on the political economy. Southerners, opposed to the protective tariffs he proposed, burned him in effigy in Columbia, South Carolina.[3] Carey foresaw dissolution of the Union, and spent his retirement campaigning in vain for policies he believed would preserve it. Henry Clay used Carey’s writings on political economy as the basis for the American System.
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Book begins with a quote from Horace: "Ridiculum acri...fortius et melius magnus plerumeque secat res."
Translation: "Humor very often cuts the knot of serious questions more trenchantly and successfully than severity."
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Condition: See photos--there is some foxing, dark spots and darkening. The discoloration is age-related and the darkening around the outer edge is likely due to water. Age and Use-related wear on cover and spine.
Book was published on fine paper--feels like handmade rag paper.
Piece also comes with index card that had been compiled by my father, who was a long-time book seller.
It reads: "Pro-Whig poem is a comprehensive review of the actions of the British leaders throughout the Revolution. M'Fingal was accepted after the war as an important contribution to belles-lettres."
Great book, important work in American history.
Enjoy!