[GODWIN (William)]. The History of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham.1783

London: Printed for the Author, and sold by G. Kearsley, First edition, 8vo (210 x 125 mm), xv, [1], 302pp., contemporary half calf, marbled paper boards, morocco label, a very nice copy. This was Godwin's first published work, ".... it was issued anonymously, probably because it was his first effort, and the author was yet uncertain of his own powers as well as his own opinions..... The book is rare, but for those who can lay their hands on it thoroughly worth reading in itself, and also as showing how the commanding figure of the great Tory statesman drew the enthusiastic and admiration of one who was so soon to startle his contemporaries by asserting in 'Political Justice' that all government was an infringement of the Rights of Man". - Charles Kegan Paul, Godwin: his Friends and Contemporaries. Provenance: Early bookplate of Sir James Edward Lacon. Rothschild, 1015; Sabin, 63093.