An Authentic Account of the Debates in the House of Lords,

£500 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

Scarce and important pamphlet recounting the failure of the Fox-North East India Bill which was the first attempt at reforming the East India Company in the eighteenth century. It passed the Commons but failed at the Lords due to Fox's unpopularity with the King: it would shortly be followed by Pitt's India Bill, much along the same lines, which would establish the Board of Control and the take the first step in removing control of India from the East India Company. 1784 was the first renewal of the East-India Company's charter since 1742, during which the Seven Years War, American Independence, and Mysore Wars had drastically altered Britain on the world stage. In the wake of the 1772 British Credit Crises the efficiency of the Company and arguments for monopoly had started to erode and this debate was one of the first cracks in the unwavering belief in monopoly. Scarce, only 6 copies in UK institutions (BL, London Library, Manchester, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Senate House). First edition; 8vo (21 x 13.5 cm); modern quarter red morocco, gilt rolled red cloth boards, spine lettered in gilt, all edges speckled red, a fine copy; iii, 152 pp. Pickett 1325.

• Binding: Hardcover

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