THE PERFECT POLITICIAN: OR, A FULL VIEW OF THE LIFE AND ACTIONS (MILITARY AND CIVIL) OF O. CROMWEL.
London: William Roybould and Henry Fletcher, 1660. First Edition. 12mo., [8], 459 pages [i.e. 359], [1]. In Very Good condition. Rebound in three-quarter modern burgundy leather and burgundy cloth boards, paneled spine with gilt bands and gilt lettering. Boards show light wear to edges. Textblock has light plus age-toning to edges, minor age-toning to pages throughout interiorly, and the top and bottom corners of leaf H4 (pp. 103-104) have one inch-square open tears. Page 359 mis-numbered "459", as standard with this edition. Title page in red and black. Frontispiece engraving of Oliver Cromwell. Top edge gilt. JG Consignment. Shelved in Case 0.
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NOTES
A pro-Cromwell tract, apparently printed before the Restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660. Fletcher, to whom this work is attributed, presents Cromwell as a paragon of statesmanship, and laments the decline of the Commonwealth's fortunes after his death in 1658. According to DNB, this is the only "worthwhile early biography" of Cromwell. The work has also been attributed to William Raybould, by W. C. Abbot (editor of Harvard University's edition of the writings and speeches of Oliver Cromwell). An important near-contemporaneous account of one of the central characters of the English Civil War and the emergence of modern republicanism. References: Wing F1334; ESTC R18473.