by (SHARP, Granville)
(SHARP, Granville). REMARKS CONCERNING THE ENCROACHMENTS ON THE RIVER THAMES NEAR DURHAM-YARD. London: G. Bigg, 1771. 8vo. Disbound. xvi, 42, (6) pages. First edition. Scarce early account of Thames River pollution and sole edition of a work on private property. In colonial Virginia, both George Washington and Richard Henry Lee owned copies. The text is mostly a criticism of Robert Adam's proposed Adelphi project on the Thames. A legal attack on the architect Robe Adam and his brothers, although not by name, and their plan to create an embankment on the Thames for the purpose of building the Adelphi. In 1768 Robert Adam "and his three brothers leased the ground fronting the Thames, up which the Adelphi now stands...and having obtained, with the assistance of Lo Bute, the needful act of Parliament, proceeded, in the teeth of public opposition, to erect the ambitious block of buildings which is imperishably associated with their name..." With a six page "Index to the Maxims of Commo Law, and other Authorities quoted in this book." Sharp did not finish these tracts before the Legislature had passed the bill authorizing the embankment, but he published them anyway "as they particularly relate to the Rights and Property of the City of London." Paper slightly browned else very good. (Inventory #: 39058)