THE EXAMINATION OF JOSEPH GALLOWAY, Esq; Late Speaker of the House of Assembly of Pennsylvania. Before the House of Commons, in a committee on the American Papers. With Explanatory Notes.

London, J. Wilkie, below imprint in brackets: price Two Shillings, 1779.. FIRST EDITION 1779, 8vo, approximately 210 x 125 mm, 8¼ x 4¾ inches, pages: [2], 1-85, bound in half morocco over marbled sides, gilt dividing lines, gilt lettering to spine with gilt motif and rules at head and tail, marbled endpapers. Upper hinge cracked and repaired, spine rubbed, tail of spine very slightly chipped, gilt lettering rubbed on spine with slight loss of gilt, corners slightly rubbed, binding tight and firm, title page lightly foxed, published as a pamphlet with stab holes in inner margins. A very good copy of the first edition. Reprinted the following year in London, there was no American edition until 1855. Joseph Galloway (1731–1803) was a prominent loyalist during the American Revolution. He was born at West River, Maryland and moved with his father to Pennsylvania in 1740, where he received a liberal schooling. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and began practice in Philadelphia. He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1757-1775 and served as Speaker of the House from 1766-1774. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1774, where he proposed a compromise plan for Union with Great Britain to provide the colonies with their own parliament subject to the crown. He signed the nonimportation agreement, but was opposed to independence of the 13 colonies and remained loyal to the King. In December 1776, Galloway joined the British General Howe and accompanied him on his capture of Philadelphia. During the British occupation, he was appointed Superintendent of Police, and headed the civil government. When the British withdrew, he went with them, and, in 1778 moved to England. The same year, the Pennsylvania General Assembly convicted him of high treason and confiscated his estates. In 1779 he was examined before the House of Commons on the war in America, and made accusations against the British commander, claiming the failure of the British was due to General Howe's incompetence. See A Dictionary of Books Relating to America by Joseph Sabin, Volume 1, column 136, 26427; ESTC T13512. MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING, ALL ZOOMABLE. POSTAGE AT COST.