(SMITH, Adam, dedicatee.)
A Political Index to the Histories of Great Britain and Ireland; or, a Complete Register of the Hereditary Honours, Public Offices, and Persons in Offices, from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. By Robert Beatson.
Edinburgh: printed for the author, 1786.
Octavo (221 x 140 mm). Contemporary tree calf, smooth spine ruled in gilt with red label.
Binding slightly rubbed, light wear to joints, occasional tide-mark to upper margins.
First edition of an important work which 'presented for the first time modern listings of the chief office holders in the state's history' (ODNB). Beatson was a former military officer who settled in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, after marrying the daughter of the town's collector of customs. He became a close friend of Adam Smith, himself the son of a Kirkcaldy customs official, and collector of customs in Edinburgh since 1778. Smith encouraged Beatson to write, and advised him on the contents of the Political Index.
Provenance: from the library of D. L. Arkwright at Kinsham Court, Herefordshire, with a manuscript index card listing the work laid in.
ESTC T143101