8vo. Volume one, all published. [4], xcvi, [2], 415pp, [1], x. Uncut an unsophisticated copy in original publisher's blue paper backed green paper boards, printed paper lettering-piece. Extremities rubbed with loss to spine, lettering-piece chipped, boards slightly sunned and soiled, corners bumped. Sporadic foxing throughout, slight marginal loss to N2, near contemporary ink inscription to head of title.

Henry Grattan (1746-1820), Irish nationalist and member of the Irish House of Commons who campaigned for the legislative freedom of the Irish Parliament and opposed the Act of Union of 1800. From early age Grattan honed his natural eloquence through the study of the orators of classical antiquity, thus providing himself with a singular talent for public speaking that would be feted by his contemporaries and galvanise his position as a leading figure in the politics of Ireland - causing whig statesman Charles James Fox to dub him the 'Irish Demosthenes'