Scarce book by Thomas Paine: Letter to George Washington, President of the United States of America. First edition, first printing. Philadelphia: Benj. Franklin Bache, 1796. Rebound hardcover, 4.75 x 8, 76 pages; publisher's advertisement absent. Book condition: G/None, with front cover detached, wear to edges, and some small chips/tears to a few pages. During the French Revolution in 1793, Paine had been arrested in prison and imprisoned for nearly a year. He blamed Washington for not interceding on his behalf, and went so far as to say that the American president conspired with Robespierre to imprison him. In this scathing open letter, Paine attacks Washington as ungrateful, incompetent, and unworthy of his military and political fame. A scarce and exceedingly desirable first printing of a leading force in the philosophy of the American Revolution, made all the more interesting by its criticism of the rebellion’s greatest hero.
