(Newcastle Upon Tyne: For T. Robson, R. Baldwin, et al., [1780]).

VERY SCARCE FIRST EDITION OF MURRAY'S HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. Clergyman James Murray had left little doubt as to which side his sympathies rested in his eloquent two volume history. His position was that the War should never have started, that the American colonists had been treated cruelly and unfairly. Murray's was one of the most significant British voices sympathetic to the American cause.
Of great interest in Murray's IMPARTIAL HISTORY is the suite of engraved portraits, which were prepared especially for it. They include many of the most important figures of the war from both sides of the Atlantic. Included among which are Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Hancock, Generals Howe, Clinton and Putnum, Benedict Arnold, Commodore Hopkins and George III. The work is, “much sought on account of its portraits... [which] are of much interest" - Sabin. Item #34124

Two volumes, bound as one. Very Scarce First Edition, date of imprint from Adams./ Cf. Sabin 51505-51507. With the famous collection of 23 "much sought" after engraved portraits of important participants on both sides of the conflict (10 American and 13 British)and with a folding plan of Boston and Charlestown on which can be seen the placement of British and American troops for the Battle of Bunker Hill. 8vo, rare in contemporarily binding, being marbled boards backed in brown calf, the spine with blind-ruled raised bands and a single red morocco label gilt lettered and tooled. 573, 576 pp. A very well preserved text, the important 23 engraved portraits all in fine order, academic notations and markings in a very early (likely 18th century) hand are common throughout the first 90 or pages and then far more scarce throughout, they appear editorial in nature, the rare contemporary binding still strong and usable and completely authentic though worn and mellowed, a simple binding which also attests to early academic ownership.