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Marlborough, Sarah Churchill and [Hooke, Nathaniel]; [Ralph, James].
An Account of the Conduct of the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough, From her first coming to Court, To the Year 1710. In a Letter from Herself to My Lord; The Other Side of the Question: or, an Attempt to Rescue the Characters of the Two Royal Sisters Q. Mary and Q. Anne, Out of the Hands of the D---s D---- of ----. In Which all the Remarkables in Her Grace’s late Account are Stated in their full Strength, and as fully answer’d; the Conduct of Several Noble Persons is justify’d; and all the necessary Lights are thrown on our Court-History from the Revolution, to the Change of the Ministry in 1710. In a Letter to Her Grace. By a Woman of Quality.
Publisher: Printed by James Bettenham for George Hawkins; Printed for T. Cooper; London;
Date of Publication: 1742
Stock Code: 14640
ESTC describes multiple variant states for ‘An Account’ without determining priority, this being one of those issued in the first year of publication; ‘The Other Side of the Question’ the first recorded edition. Two works in one volume. Octavo, pp., 316; [4], 467, [1] sig. A-T⁸ U⁴ X²; [π²] A-Z⁸ 2A-2F⁸ 2G². Later quarter calf over marbled paper boards, double fillets in blind and lettered in gilt to spine. Corners rubbed with board slightly exposed, upper joints rubbed to extremities, shelf-wear to spine-tips. Occasional very light scattered foxing to contents. A very good copy. Two works on Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (1660-1742). The first is Churchill’s own attempt to rehabilitate both her own and her husband’s reputation. Despite describing events more than thirty years before, the publication of Churchill’s account created a minor literary scandal, which saw the publication of parodic, satiric, and argumentative responses. The second publication in this volume is one of those responses, written by the notorious hack and erstwhile friend of Benjamin Franklin, James Ralph. Two substantial works of eighteenth-century court intrigue and scandal, much reprinted. £250.00