The Speeches of the Right Honorable John Philpot Curran. Complete and correct edition. Edited, with memoir and historical notices by Thomas Davis. by John Philpot Curran. Thomas Davis, ed - 1845

Dublin: James Duffy, 23, Anglesea-Street , 1845. First edition. Hardcover. Very good. Octavo. Very good. Some wear to edges and corners of boards, a bit of wear at joints and hinges, but binding is firm. Lovely contemporary tree calf leather binding with gilt filagree around the edges, and gilt ON the edges as well (see image). Endpapers and edges of textblock attractively marbeled. Spine has lovely and intricate gilt designs with original labels. The exact same style of binding can be seen on 2 other volumes of speeches we have listed here, by Campbell and Brattan. xliv, 603 p. w/ portrait frontis. Though not mentioned in the book, this volume is part of "Duffy's Irish Library". A very attractive edition of this collection of political and legal speeches by Irish politician orator, lawyer, judge and member of the Irish House of Commons. Curran (1750-1817). He is most notably remembered for defending a number of United Irishmen against treason charges in the 1790s and other revolutionaries in the early 1800s, with varying degrees of success. He was a dogged cross-examiner, and had to be, as the Crown in Ireland need only supply one witness for treason. Like Grattan he was a champion of Catholic emancipation and Irish Rights, though he was a Protestant. He became Master of the Rolls in Ireland in 1806 after Pitt's more liberal government took power. This work includes over 60 of his speeches, most in court cases. Subjects of the cases include high treason, seduction, contraband, the Madness of King George III, pensions, corruption, Catholic emancipation, libel, the Dublin Defenders, abduction, outlawry, habeas corpus, trade, the Regency, and more. On a more colorful note, he led the creation of a drinking club called the ORDER OF ST. PATRICK, with members called the Monks of the Screw (after corkscrews). Catholics and Protestants of a more liberal bent were both members.