AN ARGUMENT SHEWING THAT A STANDING ARMY, WITH CONSENT OF PARLIAMENT, IS NOT INCONSISTENT WITH A FREE GOVERNMENT &c.
Pp. [iv]+26+[2](advertisement, verso blank); small f'cap. 4to; modern half dark brown calf, spine with gilt lettered maroon leather title label, light brown cloth boards, faintly foxed; all edges red; bookplate of David Levine, Sydney, on upper pastedown, binder's ticket at foot of lower pastedown, the endpapers slightly discoloured at edges, a little light foxing and soiling; printed for E. Whitlock, London, 1698. First edition. Wing 828; ESTC R20142; Moore 18. *The advertisement is for the second edition of the 1697 pamphlet which sparked the so-called 'standing army controversy': An argument shewing that a standing army is inconsistent with a free government, by John Trenchard and Walter Moyle. Defoe's rebuttal begins: 'The Present Pen and Ink War rais'd against a standing Army, has more ill Consequences in it than are at first Sight to be Discern'd. . . . the Principle is Mortally contagious and Destructive of the Essential Safety of the Kingdom' [Preface]. Item #169862
Price: $950.00