England and America. A Comparison of the Social and Political State of Both Nations

 8vo., 2 vols; contemporary calf over marbled paper-covered boards; spine with gilt and blind-tooled borders, and contrasting leather label gilt to the upper portion; pp. [v], iv-xii, [i], 2-331, [iii]; [v], iv, [i], 2-341, [iii]; good, with heavy sunning and rubbing to spine and boards, chip to foot of Vol II, some peeling of the leather spine and corners; some rather heavy spotting internally, particularly to the prelims and edges; short closed tear to title page of Vol II. Provenance: Contemporary ownership name of Henry Gover [?] Esq to the front paste-downs; ownership names of John Saltmarsh (Dec 1924) and Kathleen Saltmarsh (October 1974) to both ffeps. 

First edition of this examination of the social and political state of these two Nations. 

Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796 – 1862) was an English politician in colonial Canada and New Zealand. Considered to be a key figure in the establishment of British colonies in Australia and New Zealand (where he later served as a member of parliament), Wakefield was born and educated in London. He was imprisoned in 1826 for the abduction of a fifteen year old girl. While serving his three year sentence he began to write on the subject of colonialisation, and his ideas impressed the likes of John Stuart Mill and Robert Torrens. Upon his release many seem to have immediately forgotten about his heinous crime. England and America was published shortly after, and is a work which discusses free trade, slavery and emigration, and was primarily intended to develop his own colonial theory, (as evidenced by an extensive chapter entitled ‘The Art of Colonization’). 

Dr. John Saltmarsh (1908-1974) was a historian and a fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. Described by his family as a "notable eccentric”, Saltmarsh was recruited to work at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, after which he lectured in Economic History at Cambridge, and published several works, including on the history of King’s College chapel. His set of rooms at King’s now form the Saltmarsh Suite. 

SKU: 1800198