PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE RUPTURE WITH SPAIN. IN FRENCH AND ENGLISH
1762 · London
by [Great Britain-Spain Relations
London: Printed by E. Owen and T. Harrison, in Warwick Lan, 1762. [4],279pp. French and English titlepages, with parallel text on facing pages. Contemporary half calf and marbled boards, spine gilt, leather label. Boards and extremities rubbed. Bookplate of Alberto ParreƱo on front pastedown. Some slight offsetting on titlepages, else quite clean internally. Very good. An interesting and important collection of documents regarding British-Spanish relations toward the close of the French and Indian War, in it's rare French and English edition. Most of the letters and papers are by Prime Minister William Pitt; Secretary of State for the Southern Department Sir Charles Wyndham (the Earl of Egremont); and George Hervey (the Earl of Bristol), who was the British envoy at Madrid. Though not engaged in open warfare with Spain, relations between Great Britain and Spain were tense and deteriorating in the late 1750s and early 1760s, especially over issues of fishing rights in Newfoundland, territory in the West Indies, and Spanish support for the French. Though Pitt resigned as Prime Minister in late 1761, Great Britain declared war on Spain in early 1762. This collection prints documents explaining and justifying the Pitt administration's actions in the years leading up to the declaration of war. Several of the letters contain minute details of meetings and conferences between the Earl of Bristol and Spanish envoys, and the Earl of Egremont's reply (described by the DNB as a "masterly state paper") to the Spanish Ambassador, Fuentes, is included as well. There is much of American interest throughout, including the British side of the story with regard to Newfoundland fisheries and the West Indies. Spain would ultimately lose Florida in the peace that settled the Seven Years' War. SABIN 58483. (Inventory #: WRCAM41505)