William Edward Hartpole Lecky — Democracy and Liberty

London, Longmans, Green and Co, 1896. First edition. Cloth. The first edition of William Edward Hartpole Lecky's examination of contemporary politics, including a signed letter from the author to solicitor Augustus Frederick Warr. The first edition.Letter from the author bound before the front endpaper to Volume I, to Augustus Frederick Warr, dated 1898.Complete in two volumes.In this work, William Edward Hartpole Lecky explores how the growing tendency towards untrammeled democracy might undermine individual liberty in the coming century, providing a pessimistic view of contemporary politics.Vol I contains writings on topics such as the democracies of England, USA and France, as well as histories of aristocracies and upper chambers and case studies of international policies. Vol II includes topics such as the relationship Catholicism and democracy, challenges of legislating alcohol and modern socialism. The works provoked criticism in both the UK and USA, which only heightened when he expressed his low estimate of William Ewart Gladstone in a new 1899 edition, then only recently dead.Twenty-four pages of adverts to the rear of Volume I. Bookplate of Augustus Frederick Warr to the front paste downs, a solicitor and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1895 to 1902. In the original publisher's cloth binding. Externally, smart. Light bumping to the head and tail of the spines and to the extremities. A few light marks to the cloth. Rear hinge of Volume I is starting but firm. Bookplate to the front paste downs. Author's letter bound in before the front endpaper of Volume I. Internally, Volume II is firmly bound, Volume I is generally firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: None. Very Good Indeed .