SKETCHES OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF PATRICK HENRY. BY WILLIAM WIRT, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

Philadelphia: Published by James Webster, 1817. [2], xv, [1 blank], 427, [1 blank], xii, [1 errata], [1 blank] pp. Frontis portrait of Paine, with original tissue guard [some foxing]. Mild and widely scattered foxing. Bound in original sheep [front cover detached but present]. Good+.

William Wirt [1772-1834] was the ninth U.S. Attorney General from 1817-1829. He also served as clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1800, was chancellor of the Eastern District of Virginia in 1802, was appointed by President Jefferson as prosecuting attorney in the trial of Aaron Burr in 1807, and served in the cabinet of President John Quincy Adams.
Cohen notes that Wirt, "who did not know Henry, acknowledges extensive help from Nathaniel Pope, a friend of Henry's. Wirt's work on Henry is known for its excessive praise. As Appleton's points out, it has been ". . . severely criticized both for its hero-worship and its style'."
FIRST EDITION. Howes W586. Cohen 2005.