Descripción
53pp. Modern three-quarter brown cloth and marbled boards, spine gilt. Ex-New-York Historical Society, with their ink stamp on the rear pastedown. Short tear repaired on verso of titlepage, bottom corner of titlepage renewed. Minor scattered foxing, edges of text a bit toned. Overall very good. A strange and uncommon artifact of Federal- era political and personal controversy, this is Richard Raynal Keene's response to Luther Martin's MODERN GRATITUDE, IN FIVE NUMBERS: ADDRESSED TO RICHARD RAYNAL KEENE, ESQ. CONCERNING A FAMILY MARRIAGE. Apart from defending himself with regard to his actions with Martin's daughter, Keene's tract is also an excellent example of the importance of personal honor in the Federal era, as well as making allusions to current political and international affairs. In the previous work, Luther Martin took Keene to task for seducing his fifteen-year- old daughter, whom Keene married in 1802. At the time, Martin was the Attorney General of Maryland and Keene's legal mentor. Keene would go on to live a fascinating life, serving as U.S. Attorney in New Orleans after he married Martin's daughter, as a defendant alongside Aaron Burr during the Burr Conspiracy trial, and as a colonel in the Spanish Army for over a decade during which time he secured the very first permission from the Spanish Cortes to settle a colony in Texas, which never ultimately materialized. Keene also participated in the failed ransom attempt of American seamen in Algiers in 1814, was accused of treason by Richard Meade for a letter Keene sent to the Spanish King that was critical of American government, and tried to buy a large portion of Cuba around 1830, among other adventures. "Keene for about thirty years after his graduation from Princeton in 1795 had an interesting career, which, as far as I know, has never been sketched except for brief references in the Princeton Alumni Catalogue. It began with his playing a leading role in the most publicized romance of his time when as a student in the law office of the eminent and redoubtable Luther Martin, he fell in love with Eleanor Martin and against the fierce opposition of her father married her on January 27, 1802. This led to the publication by Martin of a series of five articles under the heading MODERN GRATITUDE. Keene's reply, LETTER FROM RICHARD RAYNAL KEENE, TO LUTHER MARTIN.UPON.HIS 'MODERN GRATITUDE,'.distinctly scored upon his father-in-law and makes good reading to this day" - Streeter. A scarce work, which rarely appears at auction or in the trade. The last copy listed in Rare Book Hub appeared in an Eberstadt catalogue in 1963, priced $75. Not in Howes, and the first copy ever offered by this firm. STREETER TEXAS 1056 (note). EBERSTADT 162:455. SABIN 37155. N° de ref. del artículo WRCAM56437
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