Cary, Thomas G.:

$300 · Offered by William Reese Company

LETTER TO A LADY IN FRANCE ON THE SUPPOSED FAILURE OF A NATIONAL BANK, THE SUPPOSED DELINQUENCY OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, THE DEBTS OF THE SEVERAL STATES, AND REPUDIATION; WITH ANSWERS TO ENQUIRIES ... The first edition of a response to European critics of the American character. The response, which is written in the form of a letter, is directed to an American woman raised in Europe, whose only knowledge of American politics came from European critics. In his introduction Cary writes that the letter is geared toward "ladies in particular...who know little on the subject [of American politics]...; who are puzzled by the confusion of national institutions with those separate states...; and who, having no ready means to examine the subject, avoid it...." The letter deals most directly with the criticisms of Charles Dickens and Captain Frederick Marryat, who wrote negatively of their experiences in America. Cary's response addresses issues as varied as the national debt, the failure of the national bank, slavery, "Love of Money," and "Lynch Law."The first edition does not credit the authorship of the letter as the second edition does. The first and third editions are identical in this regard; the latter, though, was printed in 1844. The inscription on the wrapper reads, "Hon. Wm. C. Bradley with compliments of the writer Tho. G. Cary." This was William Czar Bradley, a lawyer who served as a Representative from Vermont from 1813 to 1815 and 1823 to 1827.

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